


For the World Has Ended Many Times (And Begun Again in the Morning)

by Chillmaster3000



Series: The Walking Dead Job [2]
Category: Leverage, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Walking Dead (TV)
Genre: Feminist Themes, Lori Lives, Sophia Peletier Lives, other non-canon deaths, some canon deaths, sorry my dudes
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-06-24
Updated: 2019-04-04
Packaged: 2019-05-28 00:46:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 5
Words: 23,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15036998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chillmaster3000/pseuds/Chillmaster3000
Summary: We pick up just where Season 4 of TWD does, but we take things in slightly different directions. The kids are growing up and strange changes are coming to them. The Leverage team is here to help Team Family just in time for shit to hit the fan. There will be more heroes, more villains, and more Walkers.I have a twitter and a tumblr for anyone who wants to send me questions or anything else! chillmaster3000 for tumblr, chillmaster8000 for twitter (3000 was taken)





	1. How We Live Now

The nights are cool in the Alabama spring. T-Dog feels the breeze send goosebumps under his collar as he stands on watch beside Clint, in one of the remaining watchtowers. It’s as peaceful as can be, save for the growling of Walkers herding around the fences. After a certain point, T-Dog learned to tune that out, since there was no immediate threat. The Walkers can’t actually get to the fence. There’s a narrow but deep channel running around the fences filled with sharp-edged glass that catches the ones who get close and shreds them up. It was Parker’s idea.

The storied Leverage crew has had a lot of ideas to help keep the Prison safe. If T-Dog had had any doubts that the people could be as incredible as Charlie’s stories had suggested, those doubts were definitely gone. They had to be the most insanely competent people T-Dog had ever met- emphasis on the insane part. It explains so much about who Charlie is as a person. 

Speaking of Charlie, T-Dog can see her herding children towards the glowing firepit. Adults are wandering the same way. It must be getting close to shift change, he thinks, and then T-Dog hears the footsteps coming up the stairs.

“Clint,” he says, rapping on the guardrail. The vibrations get the other man’s attention first. “Shift change.” The doors open as Clint nods. Bucky and one of the new guys come out. T-Dog and Bucky exchange a fist bump before the former leaves with Clint.

“I can’t believe you fist bump the Winter Soldier,” Clint complains when the doors shut behind them. “He won’t fist bump with me.”

“That’s because you keep telling the kids to stick magnets on his arm,” T-Dog says. Clint shrugs.

“I can’t help being a bad influence. It’s what I do.” T-Dog gives Clint a light shove. Clint just laughs as they head down the stairs. 

T-Dog isn’t the kind of guy to use his ‘right-hand man’ status to get favors for himself. He’s too much of a Hufflepuff, Glenn would say, whatever that means. But T-Dog does get to pick his watch shifts, and he picks a time so that he can listen to the stories told around the fire pit at night. T-Dog really enjoys that time of day. Everyone can relax and lose themselves in a narrative like they used to before all this crazy shit went done. Even the storyteller gets to relax. 

There’s a rotation of storytellers now, not just Charlie. She is a favorite of many, but Sophie and Nate can spin a good yarn themselves. Their cycle has them each take a night, one after the other, and then a fourth night when anyone can try their hand at it. Some people read from their favorites at the Prison library while others recount theirs from memory. Big Tiny has been a frequent flier as he works on his literary skills. The first time he got through a chapter without stumbling on his words, the applause woke up Judith and Tiny cried a little. T-Dog was teary-eyed himself.

But tonight is a Charlie night. The whole of the farm group makes sure to be there for her nights, especially Beth. On the other end of the spectrum, Bucky, Natasha, and Michonne rarely come. T-Dog hasn’t figured out why yet. He has more important things to worry about.

“Are we ready?” Charlie asks. The children in front of her, ranging from the little ones struggling to stay awake to Carl and Patrick in the throes of puberty, nod eagerly. The adults seem to have settled in as well, so Charlie takes a deep breath. Everyone leans in. 

“Tonight, I’d like to tell a story about an old friend of mine,” Charlie says, her hands repeating her words in ASL. “Some of you may remember him from news, flying around with his long red cape and godly hair…” There’s some murmuring among the adults, but Clint lets out a bark of a laugh. This should be good. 

“Thor Odinson is a wonderful being,” Charlie says. “One of my favorite people ever. He was very respectful to everyone he met- until they were disrespectful to someone in front of him. Then he wasn’t so nice.” The kids giggle excitedly. “Back in New York, I worked as a bartender for a friend of mine. Thor liked to come visit and support the business. The regulars liked when he stopped by, because he always told stories and listened to their worries, just like another bartender, but with a way cooler accent.” Even T-Dog laughs at that one.

“So this one day, I’m working the midnight shift, and there’s a few people getting rowdy, which is normal,” Charlie says. “Thor sent me a text that he was on his way- yes, he could text. He’s actually very good with Earth technology. On Asgard, their tech is way more advanced, so there was a bit of a learning process, but once he got the hang of it, Thor was as good as Stark, a fact that annoyed Stark to no end. But anyway, Thor was coming. No need for a bouncer when you’ve got a god.”

“Careful, I think Carol’s getting jealous,” Lori teases, nudging Carol’s shoulder. Carol rolls her eyes. 

“Don’t worry, babe, Thor’s not my type,” Charlie says. “One of the guys who was getting rowdy tries to order another drink. He’s had enough, I can tell, so I cut him off. He does not like that. Now he’s yelling all kinds of curses at me, rude names, all that kind of stuff. His buddies try to get him to stop while I mostly ignore him. Suddenly there’s a bottle smashing into the wall next to my head.” Everyone goes tense. “Before I can even move, the guy is dangling in the air, cursing up a storm. Thor’s got him by his collar.” Charlie clears her throat and puts her shoulders back.

“‘Excuse me, sir,’” she says in a deep voice. “‘Apologize to this young woman immediately, and I shall put you down. Continue to behave like this, and I will toss you out of this fine establishment.’ And the guy starts swearing at Thor, which is never really a good move. So Thor sighs, carries the guy to the door, and literally throws him out.” 

“Yes!” Ella hisses under her breath, her sentiment echoed by the other kids. T-Dog holds back a laugh. 

“Thor then proceeds to apologize to the whole room and buy everyone a round of drinks, like he was the one who caused the trouble,” Charlie continues. “The guy’s friends also apologize, paying for their stuff and getting the hell out so they could grab the idiot before he got into more trouble. Everything settled back down, and Thor told us the story of the first time he hunted bilgesnipe.”

“Bilge what?” Glenn asks. 

“Bilgesnipe. Some manner of beast that’s big, scaly, and has huge antlers,” Charlie says. “He never really got more specific than that. I just know they trample things and they’re pretty ugly.” Parker opens her mouth to say something, but both of her husbands put a hand up to stop her. “I’m sure we can all think of someone we’d like to call a bilgesnipe, but maybe we hold off on that right now, guys.” The amount of people actually considering that has T-Dog actually laughing. This is lightyears away from the way they were living less than a year ago, running from house to house in cars that were barely holding together. This is almost like home.


	2. Just Another Morning

Eliot is one of the first people moving around in the mornings. He doesn’t sleep much, hasn’t in decades, and there’s plenty to be done. 

Before heading to the farm they’ve built, Eliot does a perimeter sweep. The shredder pits, as Parker insisted they be called, keep most of the Walkers away from the fences that are slowly being reinforced as they find materials. Still, the Walkers can get pretty close. Eliot can see them clearly. 

And there’s something wrong with one of them.

He thinks he’s imagining it at first. But there’s one Walker with blood trails down its face, rusty red tracking down from cloudy eyes to rotting chin. Eliot studies that Walker for a while. Was it mutilated by whoever killed it? Did the person go crazy and do it to themselves? Or… or perhaps there was a less violent reason.  
Only time could tell on that one.

*

Rick likes farm duty.

With Hershel on crutches, the only resident farmer was unable to actually do the work to create a farm. Charlie had asked Rick to ‘be Hershel’s legs’ and do what Hershel wanted to get something sustainable going. Rick initially chafed at the assignment, but Barton and Maggie were right there next to him in it. Barton’s sister has a farm up north somewhere, so he knew how to do some tasks, and was pretty good at getting other people to come help. Hershel wasn’t a harsh taskmaster (unless someone was being lazy or stupid- then he could give a tongue-lashing to rival Charlie) and the work was rewarding. Rick was surprised to find he preferred working on the farm to going out on runs. He’d forgotten how much he liked doing peaceful, helpful work as a deputy. His mood has improved since starting, and he hardly ever sees Shane anymore. Instead Rick gets to play with Judith, teach Carl how to be a man, and just be around Lori without either stressing. It’s pretty great.

Eliot is already weeding when Rick gets out this morning. Rick nods when Eliot looks up, hoping to just get started and not have to talk.

“One second, Rick,” Eliot says, standing up. Damn. “I need you to keep an eye on something for me.”

“Is it the big sow?” Rick asks. He looks toward the pigpen. “I noticed she was sluggish this morning.”

“No. Come here.” Rick comes to stand next to Eliot. The shorter man points to the fenceline.

“You see that Walker over there? In the overalls?” Eliot says. Rick finds it fast enough; it’s the one with dried blood running down its face. 

“What happened to its eyes?” Rick says, squinting to search for answers.

“Don’t know yet. Let me know if you see more like it while you’re out here, would you?” Eliot says. “I’m hoping it’s a one-time thing. If not, we’ll have to take a closer look.”

“What? Why?” Rick looks back to Eliot and gets only a grim concentration from him. “What do you think’s going on?”

“Don’t know yet,” Eliot repeats. “Might be nothing. Just keep an eye out.”

*

Carl comes out to the farm area later that day, looking pensive. Rick leaves Tiny to the weeding so he can see what Carl’s doing by the pigpen.

“What’s wrong with Violet?” Carl asks rather than saying hello. Rick sighs.

“I told you not to name them, Carl,” he says. “They’re not piglets anymore, they’re food.” Carl shrugs. 

“Yeah, I know, I just thought that until…” He trails off and Rick figures it’s not that bad.

“I don’t know what’s wrong with her. She’s been like that all morning,” Rick says. He stands beside Carl at the fence. “What about you?”

“What do you mean?” Carl says, trying to look neutral.

“You seem upset. Is everything okay?” Rick says. Carl shrugs.

“I’m fine,” he says. “I think Dex is mad at me again. I don’t know why.”

“That seems to be happening a lot lately,” Rick says. “You tried asking Ella what’s on his mind?”

“She just says he’s being a butthead.” Carl sighs. “If he’d just tell me, I’d fix it. But he won’t talk to me today.”

“He’ll come around. I’m sure,” Rick says. “In the meantime, you can hang out with Patrick. He’s a pretty chill guy, right?”

“Yeah, he’s cool,” Carl says. “Do you need any help around here?” Rick glances back towards the courtyard, where people are moving around. He sees Lori watching them from the fence, Judith on her hip, smiling peacefully.

“Yeah, come on. I could use a hand.”

*

Carol is overseeing breakfast that morning. People wake up at different times now that there are enough of them to take multiple shifts, and breakfast goes on for a while these days. Carol has Patrick helping her today. He’s a good kid, hard-working and polite. She likes him. 

Soon enough, people start giving the same greeting one after another, and Carol knows her partners are approaching.

“Morning Daryl! Morning Charlie!” Again and again, with the occasional personal touch, until Carol can see them coming towards her. Patrick drops his spoon and turns scarlet as he bends to retrieve it. Carol just shakes her head. Kids and their heroes.

“Hey!” Charlie reaches the kitchen area first. She leans over to kiss Carol hello while Daryl is bewildered by the attention he’s getting from everyone. He turns to Carol and kisses her as well.

“Just so you know,” Carol says, “I liked you first.” Charlie laughs.

“Stop,” Daryl grumbles, picking up some fruit. He pops it into his mouth so he doesn’t have to talk anymore. 

“How are things so far?” Charlie asks Carol. Carol hands her a bowl.

“Quiet, mostly. There’s something I want you to see, though, and Eliot’s been twitchy,” Carol says. That wipes the smile off Charlie’s face. Carol looks to Patrick, who seems to have recovered from dropping the spoon by staring fixed at the meat he’s working on. “Patrick, you want to take over?” 

“Yes, ma’am!” Patrick says, brightening up. He adjusts his glasses before taking the tongs from Carol. Carol walks out to her partners, but Patrick seems to have worked up his nerve.

“Uh, Mr. Dixon?” Daryl looks at Patrick, who does not falter. “I just wanted to thank you, for bringing back that deer yesterday. It was a real treat, sir.” Carol has to keep from laughing at Daryl’s stunned expression. “And I’d be honored to shake your hand.” Patrick extends his hand. Daryl pauses, cleans his fingers by popping each in his mouth for a moment, then shakes Patrick’s hand. The boy is far too thrilled for the amount of saliva that’s now on his palm. Carol hides her grin while Charlie takes Daryl by the shoulder.

“Come on, Mr. Dixon, we have work to do,” she says. “See you later, Patrick.” Carol begins leading the other two away. 

“It’s a good thing he’s cute,” Charlie says. 

“Daryl or Patrick?” Carol replies. Daryl grumbles. 

“Well, both, but this time I meant Patrick,” Charlie says. “He and Carl have been getting close, and Dex doesn’t like it.”

“Is that why he’s been so friggin moody?” Daryl says. “Ella called him a dumbass last night and I had to separate em before they started fighting.”

“Yeah, that’s most of it,” Charlie says. “I think puberty’s starting to kick in too.”

“Double the fun,” Carol says drily. “We’ll have to keep an eye on him- though you’d think the whole telepathy thing would help with the jealousy aspect.”

“You’d think,” Charlie agrees. “Any idea what’s making Dad twitch?”

“He hasn’t talked to me yet, but I think T-Dog and Barton are aware,” Carol says. “He was looking for you, but I told him to let you sleep.”

“Which means he probably went to find Nate,” Daryl says. 

“Probably,” the women agree. Nate is currently the biggest pain in their ass right now. While he respects Charlie’s position as leader and her abilities, he’s just… well, the asshole he’s always been. He thinks he’s the smartest person in the room (which, 75% of the time, he is) and he’s not great at remembering he’s not the only one who can make intelligent decisions. It doesn’t help matters that Nate has literally known Charlie since she was a teenager and sometimes sees her that way still. He’s not a bad man. Everyone knows he’s not. He’s just… an asshole.

Finally, they approach the fences, where a clean-up team is using broken brooms and canes to skewer the Walkers who get too close. A pileup in the pits would make them utterly ineffectual, and the past few days have made that an all too likely possibility.

“I don’t know that we’re going to be able to spare a lot of people for the run,” Carol says. 

“The place is good to go. We gotta make a move on it,” Daryl says. 

“Yeah,” Carol says as they reach the inner fenceline. They can see the outer fences now, with its dozens of the undead. “The thing is, we had a pretty big buildup overnight. Dozens more towards Tower Three. It’s getting as bad as last month.”

“They must be running out of food out there,” Charlie says.

“With more of us in here, we’re drawing more of them out,” Daryl adds. “Once you get a few, they start herding up.”

“Too many more and those pits won’t be enough,” Carol says. “We’re managing, but unless we get ahead of it, not for long.” Charlie sighs.

“We’ll have to shore up the fences as best we can,” she says. “There’s no way we can dig more with this mass. I’ll talk to Barton about cleaning them up enough to do some construction- but we will have to send a smaller group on the run today.”

“Sorry, Pookie,” Carol says, throwing Daryl a smile. He scoffs and nudges her. 

“We’ll make it work,” Daryl says. “Either of you wanna come? You’re easily worth two guys.”

“I have to deal with this buildup,” Charlie says. “Plus whatever Dad’s twitching about.”

“I’ve got the kids today,” Carol says. “Maybe you could take Ella, work out some of her aggression. You’ve got Bucky going, right?”

“Yeah, but he gets fixated on protecting when the kids are around,” Daryl says. 

“He overcompensates,” Charlie agrees. “Carol, I’ll work with Ella if you’ll handle Dex.”

“Deal.” They fistbump and Daryl shakes his head.

“Nerds, the both of you,” he mutters. 

*

Parker sits up in Tower Three, overlooking the herding Walkers. It worries her that so many more are appearing without a cause; the patrols haven’t found any new burnt out towns and these corpses don’t look too old. Some do, sure, but most are within the first six months of decay. That’s very troubling. 

“Hey, mama.” Alec walks onto the observation balcony. He sits beside Parker and wraps an arm around her waist. She leans against him. “How’s it going up here?”

“There’s too many haugbui,” Parker says. Alec prefers haugbui to Walker- the former is the word they’d been using all this time, an old Norse word that literally means undead man. Eliot said it first and it stuck. Parker thinks using Walker is easier when the majority of the Prison uses that one, but Alec is a huge nerd. “They have to be coming from somewhere.”

“Maybe. Maybe this is just the amount Woodbury used to take out of the equation and we’re seeing the results of its destruction,” Alec says. “Or we’re making more noise and attracting equally more of them. There’s a lot of reasons for it.”

“Yeah, but we can’t be sure which, and that makes it harder to fix the problem,” Parker says with a huff. Alec chuckles, the sound reverbing in his chest the way Parker likes. 

“Can’t solve everything,” Alec says. “We’ll make it work. We always do.” Parker huffs again, though she does feel slightly better. “You wanna hear something cute?” 

“Sure,” Parker says. 

“Okay, so you know how Dex has his feathers all ruffled because Carl’s spending more time with that Patrick kid?” Alec says, and Parker nods. “Well, I just caught Sophia glaring daggers at Beth’s boytoy Zach.”

“Beth has a boytoy?” Parker says, wrinkling her nose. “Since when?”

“Eh, it’s been a few weeks.” Alec waves his free hand. “Anyway, I asked Sophia about it, in case Zach was doing something he shouldn’t, and all Sophia could say was ‘I just don’t like him.’” Alec makes his voice high-pitched to mimic their eldest grandkid and Parker laughs. “So either she’s got a thing for him or she’s got a thing for Beth. My money’s on the latter.”

“Aw, her first crush,” Parker says. “Do you think Daryl will be better about it than Eliot was with Charlie and her first crush?”

“Not a chance in hell, mama,” Alec replies. “No man is prepared for the first time his fourteen year old has a crush on a real person.”

*

Sophia is getting pretty good with the radio.

One of the first things Pops did when he got here was retool the whole setup they’d made for the radio. ‘There’s something in the atmosphere,’ he’d told Ella and Sophia while they helped, ‘something that interferes with the way waves travel through the air. All of our radio tech was designed on certain wavelengths, which is why most of it doesn’t work anymore.’ While he was fixing it, Pops taught Ella and Sophia how the radio works. Sophia loved it. She spent hours watching Pops and asking him questions. Now she’s one of the few people who can fix it almost as well as Pops can, and she’s one of the two people who decides the shift schedule. 

Uncle Nate is the other person who decides the shift schedule. At first, he wasn’t great at letting Sophia do enough of the work, but Auntie Sophie yelled at him for a while and he got better. They made the script for the radio calls together, and they choose who works the radio. 

It’s Sophia’s shift in the office where the radio now lives. The highest point of the Prison, as Pops requested for the best reception, is the former warden’s office. There’s chairs and a desk for the equipment, so it’s a very comfy place too. Ella likes to sit with Sophia up there sometimes. She’s sitting there today, reading A Wrinkle in Time aloud so Sophia can keep eyes and hands on the radio. Then Ella stops abruptly, as she does sometimes, and Sophia expects the radio to come alive. Instead, she hears steps thudding on the stairs outside the office. Voices become clearer as the thuds get closer.

“-not saying that it’s paranoia. I’m just saying it’s uh… a little far-fetched,” Uncle Nate is saying. “I mean, one weird corpse does not a problem make.”

“And I’m saying it’s not one weird corpse, Nate,” Granddad replies like he’s trying not to yell. “That’s not something that happens randomly to one person. Either it’s biological or it’s inflicted.”

“Has anyone else seen one of these corpses?” Uncle Nate asks. 

“No confirmed sightings. A few people think they have but they can’t be certain,” Granddad says, a little calmer. Sophia looks at Ella, whose brow is furrowed. The footsteps are just outside the door now, so both girls busy themselves to keep the men from noticing their listening.

“Well, we keep our feelers out and plan as we learn more,” Uncle Nate says as they open the door. “Let’s not start a panic on this yet.” Granddad grunts, but doesn’t say anything else. He looks at the girls when they look up and puts on a quick smile. 

“Hey, ladies. How’re things up here?” Granddad walks right over and kisses the top of Sophia’s head, then Ella’s.

“Mostly quiet,” Sophia reports. “We got that weird Sanctuary message again. And something about a Frisbee.”

“Frisbee?” Granddad repeats.

“Probably an old ad on a glitching station,” Uncle Nate says. “Was the Sanctuary message any clearer this time?”

“No,” Sophia says with some disappointment. Their radio may be fixed, along with a few dozen walkie-talkies, but most radios are not. The messages they receive are still full of static and hard to decipher. 

“Ah, we’ll figure it out eventually,” Uncle Nate says, waving a hand. “How’s the book going? Has anyone Tessered yet?” And just like that, he gets Ella into a discussion about the physics of A Wrinkle in Time. Granddad looks out the windows for a few moments and Sophia watches him closely. When he turns around, he catches her watching and winces.

“You heard?” Granddad says under the discussion. Sophia nods. “Don’t worry about it too much. We’re on it, okay?”

“Okay,” Sophia says quietly. Granddad rubs her shoulder. It’s nice, Sophia thinks, to have a big family.

*

Zach is so weird, Beth thinks as he goes off with Daryl’s group. Why does he want such a big deal from her over him leaving? They’d only been fooling around, not even taking off clothes or anything serious. Beth doesn’t want any more than that from him. 

Beth goes to walk away and sees Parker watching the goodbyes with a weird expression. To be fair, most of Parker’s expressions and Parker’s… well, everything, are weird. Beth smiles at her anyway.

“Hi Parker. Looking for someone to help with B wing?” Beth asks. Parker shakes her head. 

“Just passing by,” she says. “I saw you and Zach just now.”

“Oh, yeah.” Beth shrugs. “He’s a little needy.”

“I guess,” Parker says. “You know, you don’t have to date boys.”

“We’re not dating. We’re just… something,” Beth says uncertainly. “And it’s better than being alone.”

“That’s not what I meant,” Parker says, and Beth cocks her head. “I mean you’re not limited to boys. You have options, you know.”

“Options?” Beth repeats. “You mean like… girls?”

“Or both. Or neither. Whatever works for you,” Parker says. “Alec and Charlie are really good at talking about this stuff. Not me so much. I’m not good at feelings and that kind of thing. I just know… there are options.” She trails off, her face earnest but hesitant. Beth nods.

“Okay. Thanks,” she says. “Really.” Beth smiles at Parker again before walking away. 

Beth has never considered options before. Hell, she barely considered boys until her body started having urges and boys started noticing her. Now, Beth is wondering. She has found herself looking at women, but maybe she assumed that was something all girls did, like a comparison thing. Maybe that’s not exactly true. Maybe not all girls study other girls’ chests. Beth will have to find Charlie and ask her about it… or maybe Carol… They’re the only girls who like girls that she knows.

*

Sasha hates being short-handed. 

They were supposed to bring another carload of people on this run, but those people are needed on the fences. The group is now her, Daryl, Glenn, Bucky, Tyreese, and that Zach kid. 

“Are you sure you don’t want to come?” Sasha asks Charlie once more. The disproportionately strong woman is helping load the van up. “I’m sure T-Dog could handle things for a few hours.”

“I’m sure he could, but I’m also sure Nate would be dead by the time we got back,” Charlie says, hefting a box into the van. She leans against the bumper for a moment to look Sasha in the eye. “Believe me, I would love to escape for a few hours. But I can’t today. You’ll have to make do with the six of you.”

“Hey!” Bob, a new arrival, comes into the loading zone with a backpack strapped on. Sasha glances at Charlie, who’s got a knowing smirk on her face.

“Maybe seven,” Charlie says in a low voice. “Hey, Bob!”

“Morning, Boss,” Bob says brightly as Charlie and Sasha walk over. “I’d like to start pulling my weight around here.”

“Bob, it’s only been a week,” Sasha says. 

“That’s a week’s worth of meals, a roof over my head,” Bob says. His bright smile turns more serious. “Let me earn my keep.” 

“You were out on your own when Daryl found you,” Charlie says in a soft voice. “You’d been alone a while, and you may not be used to being on a team.”

“We ain’t gonna do it unless it’s easy,” Daryl says, walking past. Charlie gives him a shove. “Looks easy, anyway.”

“Charlie, Bob was a medic in the Army,” Glenn says. “He’s got some training.” Charlie looks to Sasha. 

“It’s your team. Your call,” she says. “I’m fine with it if you are.” Sasha gives Bob one more onceover.

“Okay,” she says. “Come on.” 

*

Ella leaves Sophia to the radio and goes to find the rest of the A-Team. Dex, of course, knows the news as soon as he looks at her, and he leaves his library chores to go check the thoughts of those on watch and fence duty. It takes Ella longer to find Carl, who is helping his dad farm this morning.

“And Eliot thinks it means trouble?” Carl asks when Ella’s finished. She nods. 

“He said either biological or inflicted. I think he means a sickness or someone cutting up people’s eyes,” Ella says. Carl makes a face. “Yeah, I know. That’s not even an efficient way of killing somebody.”

“I was thinking more of ‘gross,’ but I guess you’re right too,” Carl says. “What’s their plan?”

“Watch and wait, for now. Gather information,” Ella says. “Should we do the same thing?”

“Yeah. Maybe we can do some research in the library later, use story time as our cover,” Carl says. Ella is about to tell him that story time isn’t exactly the best time for that when a whistle cuts through the air. They turn to see two horses approaching the gate.

“Let’s go!” Rick calls to Tiny. Carl and Ella hurry after the men. Rick and Tiny grab the pulleys for the big metal gate while Carl and Ella take the end of the chain link. All four heave, making an entryway for the horses, which gallop through quickly. The men release their pulleys and the kids run the fence’s gate shut.  
Michonne and Natasha curb their horses at the small stable near the pig pen. Ella, Carl, and Rick head over to help with the horses. Tiny, who does not like horses much, goes back to the gardens.

“Glad to see you back,” Rick says as Carl takes the lead of Michonne’s horse.

“Glad to see you too,” Michonne says. “Somebody hit the jackpot.” Ella, taking Natasha’s reins, hears rustling plastic and looks to see a grinning Michonne holding a stack of comic books.

“No way!” Carl accepts the stack with a matching grin. “Awesome! Thank you!”

“I get to read em when you two are done,” Michonne says, winking at Ella. Ella winks back before looking at Natasha. She doesn’t expect a big grin, but she is surprised by the almost grim expression on the woman’s face. 

“What’s wrong?” Ella asks while Michonne and Rick talk.

“Nothing, myshka,” Natasha says. “I just saw something out there that I want to talk to the Council about.”

“Is it the Walkers with the blood coming down their faces?” Carl suggests. Natasha’s brow goes up. 

“Granddad noticed one this morning,” Ella says. “He’s worried too.”

“Your granddad has seen a lot,” Natasha replies. Ella and Carl exchange a look. Before they can ask what that means, Dad’s motorcycle comes down the gravel path, followed by the van and a truck. Dad comes to a stop by the adults, giving Ella and Carl a nod.

“Look who’s back,” he says to the women.

“Didn’t find him,” Michonne says. Dad’s face goes stony for a second. 

“Good to see you in one piece,” he says instead of what he’s thinking. 

“We were thinking about looking over near Macon,” Natasha says. Dad and Rick say nothing.

“It’s worth a shot,” Michonne says in a testy tone. 

“70 miles of Walkers. You might run into a few unneighborly types,” Dad says without rising to the bait. 

“We’ve dealt with worse than unneighborly,” Natasha answers. “You guys heading out on a run?”

“The Big Spot. The one we’ve been working on,” Dad says. “You two wanna join?” Michonne and Natasha look at each other before shrugging.

“Sure, we’ll go,” Natasha says.

“You just got here!” Carl protests. 

“We’ll be back,” Michonne says, giving him another smile.

“You guys can handle things for us,” Natasha adds. The men don’t notice anything in that, but Ella and Carl understand the serious look on her face.

“Barnes is in the truck,” Dad tells Michonne, who heads right back there. Rick waves Tiny back over to the gates while the kids take the horses into the stables.

“You wanna talk to Eliot or should I?” Carl asks Ella. 

“I’ll do it. You check in with Dex about more sightings,” Ella says. Carl opens his mouth to argue. “Don’t be such a butthead. He’s doing that enough for both of you.”


	3. Shaking Foundations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aah, I forgot to attribute the quote that I paraphrased the title from. It was originally said by Nayyirah Waheed as far as I can tell.
> 
> Sorry for the delay, I have been either hosting or visiting family every week since my last update, so this took a while.

The water filters have been acting up. Charlie decides to check them out, their maintenance a task that requires most of her focus and therefore a nice distraction from everything else in her brain. In the midst of this, she hears someone approach. She pauses to see Maggie coming towards her almost furtively, glancing around like there’s danger lurking near.

“Hey, I thought you were going with the run group,” Charlie says when Maggie reaches her. Maggie shrugs.

“Glenn asked me to stay behind,” she says, and Charlie raises a brow. “Normally, I’d just tell him to fuck off, it’s just…”

“Just?” Charlie prompts.

“I’m late,” Maggie says carefully. “Later than I have been since we got everything settled.” 

“Uh-huh.” Charlie nods, her heart going just a little bit faster than before. Which is silly, because she’s played this scene before, and that ended up being the easiest of her problems for a while.

“Lori told me you can… tell these things with your powers,” Maggie says. “You did for her.” And it ended up just fine, Charlie reminds herself. 

“Yes, I did. And I can for you, if you come here,” Charlie says, her voice firm instead of anxious. Thank the God for Sophie’s grifter lessons. Maggie comes within reach and Charlie puts a hand on her stomach.

“You won’t say anything to Dad, right?” Maggie asks as Charlie reaches out. “I’d want to wait a little before telling him. Or anyone, really.”

“I wouldn’t say a word, but there’s nothing to tell.” Charlie takes her hand away. “You aren’t knocked up, so you don’t have to worry about your dad’s reaction just yet.” Maggie sighs, relieved with just a touch of disappointment.

“Thanks,” she says. “I couldn’t stand not knowing.”

“That’s the worst part,” Charlie agrees. “Did you… want to be pregnant?”

“I don’t know. Maybe?” Maggie runs her hand through her hair, pushing it back. “We’re safe here as we could be. Everything is going okay. But Daddy’s older, and it’d be nice if he got to have a grandbaby, if only for a little while. And I’ve always wanted kids, with a great guy like Glenn. He’s pretty scared about it though…”

“I’ve heard the men always are,” Charlie says. Maggie smiles. “Look, Mags, if you were to get pregnant, we’d take special care of you like we did for Lori. I’d hand off some stuff to T-Dog- or Nate, if I had to- so I could be more available for you and the baby, and everyone else would do a little more so you could take it easy. So Glenn doesn’t need to be a dumbass about the idea.” Maggie full-on laughs now. “You can tell him I said that.”

“Oh, I will,” Maggie replies. “If he hears it from you, he’ll definitely listen.”

“One of the perks of leadership,” Charlie says. “Help me move this barrel, would you?” The two put their arms around the half-full barrel and heft it back into place among the others. Maggie resets the hose while Charlie puts the filter back over the barrel so it can fill properly once more.

“You know, I was just thinking,” Maggie says, “half the Prison would probably panic if they heard you were pregnant.” Charlie has thought the same.

“I’d bet. Let’s not try that as our next prank,” she says. Maggie squints at Charlie, like she caught a hint of something weird, but doesn’t comment on it. Instead, they talk about what would be a good prank to get Glenn and a few others when the run group gets back safely.

*

Somehow, Lori is still in charge of the laundry. 

She oversees a group of people doing laundry, mostly the older folks from Woodbury, all by hand because washing machines are ‘too time-consuming’ to fix and ‘too energy-costly’ to maintain. Lori almost punched Nate for that, but Charlie had agreed with him and apologized to Lori about it. She and Sophie, Nate’s wife, help with the laundry as best they can, so Lori can’t get too mad at Charlie. Clint Barton, the former spy, also takes laundry shifts.

“You are an excellent seamstress,” Lori remarks, looking over Clint’s repairs on someone’s flannel. The two are sitting in what used to be the cafeteria, where the laundry cleaning, drying, and repairing takes place. “Or would that be a seamster?”

“I’m cool with seamstress. It’s a time-honored profession,” Clint says. “At least, that’s what the ladies in the circus told me.” Lori never knows whether or not he’s kidding with these references. She just nods and sets the flannel in the repaired basket. As she reaches for the to-do bag, Judith begins fussing in her mailbox-bassinette between Lori and Clint. Clint leans down to pick up the baby. 

“Hey there, sweetheart. You feeling neglected?” He holds Judith to stand on his knees. She forgets to fuss and begins pawing at his face. “Aah, watch the eyes, I need those.”

“She prefers teeth these days,” Lori says, just in time for Judith to stick her fingers in Clint’s mouth. He turns to Lori.

“Wha ere ooh aying?” Clint says around the tiny hand. Lori laughs at him, which has Judith giggle too. 

“Is this a laundry party?” Rick walks over to them, smiling at the scene. He reaches for Judith, who Clint hands over mostly to get his mouth back. “You being a troublemaker again, Judy?”

“She takes after you that way,” Lori says while Judith explores Rick’s beard. 

“I’d like to argue, but I just saw Carl and Ella hurry off after some whispering, so they’re probably up to something,” Rick says, with a sigh. He looks at Clint. “I thought you’d be on the run group.”

“Nah, Charlie asked me to stick close to home in case we have problems with the fences,” Clint says. 

“Yeah, but Natasha’s going,” Rick says. Clint looks down at the to-do bag.

“Natasha’s still mad at me,” he says, rifling through it. 

“Why?” Rick asks. Clint does not answer, likely pretending his hearing aids aren’t working again, so Lori bats his arm. He looks up quite innocently.

“Why is Natasha mad at you?” Lori repeats. 

“Well, it may have something to do with our Jenga game last week,” Clint says. “She was calling me different bird names so I’d mess up and then…” He sighs. “Then I called her a brown recluse and she threw the box at me. We haven’t spoken since.”

“...why does she call you bird names?” Lori says.

“Coz I’m Hawkeye!” Clint says, slightly indignant. “And the spider thing is coz her code name was the Black Widow. Carl thought it was hilarious.”

“Carl is thirteen,” Lori replies. “And maybe Natasha hasn’t spoken to you since because she and Michonne left the next day. She might be over it by now.”

“Nope. Not until she gets me back,” Clint says. “Natasha believes in karmic retribution, you know.”

“Okay, well, good luck with that,” Rick says, clearly not willing to address the juvenile exchange between former spies. “I’m gonna go check the snares. I’ll be back in a little while.” He passes Judith back to Clint, who immediately makes faces for her. 

“Who’s going with you?” Lori asks. 

“Just me. It’s not too far,” Rick says. “I’ll be fine.”

“All right, just be careful,” Lori says, standing. She leans around Clint to kiss Rick’s cheek. 

“You got it. Michonne picked up a razor for me, I might shave later,” Rick says. 

“Just as I was getting used to the mountain man look,” Lori says, making Rick laugh. “Be safe.” Rick heads out of the laundry room. Clint waits a few minutes before standing and handing Judith to Lori.

“I’ll go get Eliot too,” he says.

“Thank you for keeping an eye on him,” Lori says in a low voice. “It’s been a while since he last worried me, but you never know what’s out there.”

“That’s why we go after him,” Clint says. “The fact that he hasn’t noticed us is exactly why we need to do it.”

*

There’s another hour until storytime and Carol has some rare free time. She passes Clint and Eliot on their way outside, muttering to each other, and decides to bother neither of them. She instead goes up to the radio tower. 

“Hey, Mom,” Sophia says when they meet on the stairs. “What’s up?”

“I’m looking for Pops and Gran. Have you seen them?” Carol asks. 

“Pops is up there. I don’t know where Gran is,” Sophia says. “Have you seen Ella?”

“Last I checked, she was running after the little ones at Mama’s request,” Carol says. “She might need a hand with that, if you’ve got some time to spare.”

“Okay. I’ll see you at story time.” Sophia continues down the stairs and Carol continues up. She can hear someone chattering away as she gets closer, most likely Alec- he talks more than anyone she’s ever met. Not in a bad way, though. He just has so much going on in his brain that he has to talk through his thoughts sometimes. Carol likes that kind of talking. It’s almost soothing.

“-and I told her it was probably nothing, but it got me thinking, you know?” Alec says as Carol reaches the door. “Maybe I could pull together some kind of scanner to take count of these things, even with all the craziness in the atmosphere.”

“I don’t know, Alec. It sounds like a lot of work for something that may not be possible,” Sophie replies. Carol knocks before opening the door. Sophie and Alec are the only ones in the office. They give Carol tired smiles.

“Hey, girl. What’s up?” Alec asks. 

“I was hoping to find you and Parker,” Carol says. “I need help with something. Something for Charlie and Daryl. Do you have a minute?”

“Sure. Parker went to crawl around the vents again, but Sophie’s a good substitute,” Alec says. 

“What do you need help with?” Sophie says. 

“Rings,” Carol says. Sophie’s face lights up. “The three of us have been committed to each other for a while, and I’d like to commemorate that. I know Barton’s been stashing rings since Glenn and Maggie got theirs-”

“Parker took over. She likes shiny things,” Alec interrupts. “She’s got them in the ceiling tiles of the library. Soph, you know the place, right?”

“Absolutely, and I know what jewelry Charlie prefers,” Sophie says, standing up. “Come along, Carol, I’ll help you choose something perfect. Parker will no doubt find us on our way.”

*

For all the healing he’s done over the past few months, Rick is still having symptoms. One is refusing to carry his gun anymore, even when he checks his snares in the woods. Everyone on the Council has tried talking to him about that, with little success. So Eliot and Clint go out after him to make sure he’s all right. Rick would not be happy if he knew, but it makes everyone else feel better, so Clint reasons it’s worth the slight guilt he gets over it.

Today’s snares are proving pretty fruitless. A rotting deer is trapped in one, flies having their fill of what the carrion birds have left behind. There is a wild pig taking its last breaths near the second, which is nice. But Eliot makes Clint stop behind a thick trunk and gestures to the south. Clint then sees the person ambling towards them. It’s a living person, he can tell that much by their gait, but they’re so covered in muck that it’s hard to tell much else. 

‘Cover me,’ Eliot signs. He heads for Rick while Clint nocks an arrow at the person. 

Eliot comes up on Rick soundlessly. Rick has just seen the person as well when Eliot grabs his arm and yanks him behind another tree. Rick’s knife is out before he realizes who is with him. There’s some angry whispering that Clint can’t make out, which has the person looking up from the pig. Clint figures he’d better do something. 

“Hey there,” he says, stepping out from his tree. Eliot glares at him. “How’s it going?”

“Please help me,” the person says, eyes wide in a thin face. She sounds female, maybe Scottish. Clint lowers the bow, though he doesn’t relax it. “I know you don’t know me, okay, I know that. But can you please help me get this to my husband? We haven’t eaten in days-”

“All right, ma’am, I’ll help you,” Clint interrupts. He puts the arrow away as he approaches. Rick comes into plain view as well. 

“Barton, what are you doing?” he says, anger making him louder than usual. The woman flinches.

“Helping this woman.” Clint reaches the woman and holds out a hand. “I’m Clint.” She eyes him for a minute before taking his hand.

“I’m Clara,” she says. “Do- do you have a camp around here?” Clint glances at the other two. They nod.

“Yeah, yeah we do,” Clint says, turning back to Clara. “You and your husband could come back with us, provided you answer a few questions first. Would you be interested in that?”

“Yes, please,” Clara says in a trembling voice. “We’ve… we’ve been doing very badly on our own.”

“Then let’s go get your husband,” Eliot says, coming forward. “I’m Eliot, and this is Rick.” Rick sighs and comes over as well. He reaches into his bag, pulling out a foil-wrapped sandwich. 

“Here,” he says, holding it out to Clara. “I think you need this more than me.” Clara gives him a shaky smile. 

“Thank you,” she says. “Thank you so much-”

“Save the thank-yous for later,” Eliot says. “We may not like your answers.” He gives Clint another dirty look. Clint shrugs.

“I couldn’t just leave her, man. Look at her, she’s skin and bones!” he says.

“Yeah, yeah, bleeding heart. Try not to adopt any squirrels along the way, would you?”

*

Parker does find Sophie and Carol before they get to the library. Once informed of the mission, she is delighted to help. The other two allow her to climb up the shelf to bring down the stash of jewelry.

“For Charlie and Daryl, you’ll want something sturdy, something they won’t have to worry about breaking if they get into a fight,” Sophie says. “Eliot and Parker were the same way, when I was helping Alec choose.”

“I’d want something similar,” Carol says. “We end up in tight spots far too often for anything less.” Parker climbs back down with the ease of a squirrel, one hand on a shoebox that rattles and clicks. She sets the box on the nearest table.

“Sterling silver would be the best bet for Daryl, it’s way harder than most of the gold alloys I’ve got,” Parker says, plucking silver bands out with ease. “Would he like a stone or inscription? We got Eliot’s inscribed.”

“Probably not. He likes it simple,” Carol says. She looks over the array of rings in the box, colorful stones and shiny metal and nothing like the world they live in now.

“Charlie’s not really a diamond person,” Sophie says, brushing through the box. “Too much bad history. The colored stones are interesting, but you want to avoid opals, emeralds, and other soft stones. What strikes you?” 

Carol looks over the contents of the box. She tends to think in shades of blue for Charlie, the color Charlie wears most often. A few rings catch her eye, but none feel exactly right until she comes across a silver band with three stones in the setting. The stone in the center is a dark blue while the two flanking stones are closer to sky blue. Carol picks that one up.

“What do you think of this one?” she asks. 

“Ooh, I like that,” Sophie says. She touches the stones gently. “I think it’s sapphire and aquamarine. What do you think, Parker?” Parker holds out her hand to Carol, who drops the ring in. Parker taps the stones against her teeth. 

“Yep. Stones are hard, setting’s strong,” she says, handing it back. “Good choice.” 

“Sometimes I forget you’re an expert in these things,” Carol says. “What’s the verdict on the men’s bands?” Parker takes three out of the pile on the table.

“These look closest to his size,” she says. “One’s older, one’s newer, and this one has an inscription that’s not too cheesy for him.” Carol looks through the three rings. She can’t really tell the difference between the uninscribed ones, but the inscription on the third wraps the interior of the band. ‘Worth fighting for,’ it says in plain letters. Carol does like that. She puts it in her left hand with the one she chose for Charlie.

“All right, now for you,” Sophie says. “What do you like? We can use silver to match the others. Maybe something with a blue stone as well?” She and Parker both begin looking through the box, thinking out loud as to what Carol might like. Carol’s less concerned about her own ring; she looks at the two in her left hand and smiles, thinking about how happy her family is going to be with these.

*

“So, favorite Avenger,” Carl says, walking beside Patrick to the open grasses. He tosses a soccer ball in the air as Patrick scoffs.

“You want me to pick just one? That’s like asking a parent to pick their favorite child,” Patrick says. Carl catches the ball with a smirk.

“Okay then, top three.”

“Top three… Uh, Captain America, Iron Man, Thor,” Patrick decides. 

“No Charlie?” Carl says. “That’s treacherous, dude.” 

“You said Avengers. Whirlwynd is the Avenger, not Charlie,” Patrick says. “And Whirlwynd is not as cool as Cap.”

“If you say so. Whirlwynd doesn’t have a song about being a stick in the mud,” Carl replies. 

“Does that mean Whirlwynd is in your top three?” Patrick asks. Carl nods.

“Hawkeye, Whirlwynd, Black Widow,” he lists. Charlie would be first, if Carl hadn’t made that promise to Barton a while back. Carl is a man of his word.

“Okay, how much did Barton pay you to say that?” Patrick says. Carl’s answer is lost when he sees the rest of the A-Team by the fence. They’re trying to be heard over the sounds of the younger kids calling for the Walkers on the other side of the fences.

“Guys, stop naming them-”

“You’re encouraging them-”

“We’ll tell your parents-” All of these are drowned out by the kids saying hi to Nick and Wayne. Carl throws the ball at the fence, startling all the children. Ella catches the ball as everyone turns around.

“You’re naming them?” Carl says incredulously.

“Well, one of them has a name tag, so we thought all of them should,” Mika says.

“They had names when they were alive,” Sophia says, sounding as though she’s said that a hundred times. “You can’t give them new ones.”

“They’re not playthings, they’re dead,” Dex adds. 

“No, they’re not. They’re just different,” Lizzie says. 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Carl says, very disturbed. “They don’t talk. They don’t think. They EAT PEOPLE. They kill people!”

“People kill people,” Lizzie says. “They still have names.”

“Have you seen what happens? Have you seen someone die like that?” Carl says. 

“Yeah, I have,” Lizzie replies, anger building in her voice. Carl glances at Dex, who nods.

“They’re not people, and they’re not pets,” Dex says. “Stop naming them.” Lizzie glares at him and then Carl.

“It’s almost storytime, guys,” Sophia says quickly. “We should get going, come on.” She starts ushering the kids away. Ella walks to Carl and hands the ball back.

“There’s something wrong with that girl,” she mutters before following the kids away. Dex lingers. 

“Did Ella talk to you?” he asks. Carl nods. 

“I was thinking about going to the library,” Carl answers. “You wanna come?”

“I think your aunt Sophie is doing today’s story,” Patrick says brightly. He is not part of the A-Team. Carl had asked the others about adding him, but all four had agreed that Patrick is not really up to it. He’s a nice guy, fun to talk to and dependable, he’s just not good at the hard stuff. There’s also the fact that Dex won’t talk to him, which drives Patrick crazy.

“You go to storytime?” Carl asks Patrick, who reddens.

“I go sometimes. I’m immature, I like it,” he says, playing it off. “It’s for kids. I didn’t think you would like it.”

“I was planning on reading on my own,” Carl says. Patrick nods. 

“Well, then, I guess I’ll head up too,” he says. “See you later, young sirs.” He gives Dex a wave before walking off. 

“You don’t have to be so rude,” Carl says to Dex. “He just wants to be your friend.”

“He’s already got you. What does he need me for?” Dex says. “There hasn’t been another sighting yet, but Granddad is looking out while he’s on a snare run. He’s leaning towards a viral cause-”

“Why are you such a butthead lately?” Carl interrupts. “You’re mad at me, you’re a jerk to Patrick. Have we done something to piss you off? Coz I’m really tired of it.”

“Oh, you’re tired of it?” Dex replies. “I’m tired of my best friend always hanging out with someone else!”

“I’m hanging out with him because you’re giving me the cold shoulder!” Carl snaps.

“I’m giving you the cold shoulder coz you like him better!” 

“What? I do not!”

“Of course you do! He’s tall, he’s older, he doesn’t have people worrying over him when he tries to do anything physical! He’s normal!” Dex spits the word ‘normal’ like it’s a bitter seed. 

“If I liked him better than you, I wouldn’t be having this fight with you!” Carl says. “Who in their right mind would want a normal best friend when they have an awesome, not normal best friend already?” Dex’s anger fades and they stand there for a moment, chests heaving from the yelling. 

“I’m sorry,” Dex says quietly. “I… I was scared. I’ve never had a best friend that wasn’t Ella before.”

“I’m sorry too,” Carl says. “I don’t want you to feel like I like someone better. You’re my best friend, Dex. You shouldn’t have to worry about that.” Carl sets the ball down and holds his arms out to Dex. The shorter boy smiles before hugging Carl tight. 

“Do you think Ella will stop calling me a butthead now?” Dex asks. 

“I hope she stops calling both of us that.”

*

Charlie is drawing up some of the suggestions Clint gave her for the fences while watching Judith for Lori. Judith is napping, thankfully. She requires more attention when awake and Charlie’s main focus is securing the Prison. 

“Hey, Charlie-”

“Shh!” Charlie looks up to warn Nate. He’s bewildered until she points at the playpen by the table. Then he nods.

“Right. Sorry,” he says in a quieter voice. “Got a minute?”

“Sure.” Charlie moves some pencils over so Nate has some clear space. He sits beside her and looks at the different drawings.

“Hmm. This seems fun,” Nate says drily. “How’s it going?”

“Not amazing, but I’ll get there,” Charlie replies. “Wanna fill me in on what Dad’s twitchy about?”

“Eh, you don’t need to worry about that just yet,” Nate says. “You’ve got enough on your plate. I’ll handle this one.” Charlie doesn’t 100% believe that’s the reason he’s holding back, but he’s not wrong either. “You feeling all right?”

“Yeah, fine,” Charlie says, drawing an arrow.

“You seem pretty tired lately,” Nate says. “Getting up later in the mornings.” Charlie pauses. She looks up again to see Nate scrutinizing her.

“Nate,” Charlie says slowly. “I appreciate your concern, but you’re heading into slapworthy territory.”

“I just want you to take care of yourself as well as you take care of everyone else,” Nate says. “If you go down sick or something, this whole place would have a cow.” 

“I’ve worked pretty hard in making sure the Prison would be fine if something happened to me,” Charlie replies. “It’s one of the reasons I keep Daryl and T-Dog from hitting you.” Nate gives a short laugh. 

“Still. If you need to do less, you’ve got people to take over for you,” he says. “Don’t be a workaholic like me.”

*

Bucky is impressed at how quickly Daryl and Sasha have become experts of infiltration. Their plan with the radio and the car batteries is a stroke of genius.

“All right, let’s partner up and make a sweep,” Daryl says. “Zach, you’re with Barnes on our six. Bob, Michonne. Tyreese and Sasha. Glenn and Romanoff, you’re with me. All good?” They nod and come together. Zach glances nervously at Bucky.

“Don’t worry, kid, I got your back,” Bucky says as they head through the fence. 

The temporary barracks are empty of the living and the undead. Bucky gets flashes of similar barracks when they were full of life, of men and boys and brotherhood. He shakes those memories aside and focuses on the group ahead of him. 

They stop at the storefront, letting some of the group do a quick sweep of the tents’ insides. Michonne comes to stand beside Bucky.

“You all right?” she asks in a low voice. Bucky nods.

“It’s different enough,” he says. “Might get me after we’re back.”

“Just let me know if you need anything,” Michonne says. 

“Always do,” Bucky says. Michonne shoves his shoulder, because she disagrees, and turns to look back at the other three. Daryl and Zach are just chilling, unaware of the conversation, but Romanoff is looking at the ground too intently to not have eavesdropped. 

“Okay, I think I got it,” Zach says to Daryl. 

“Got what?” Michonne asks. 

“Oh, I’ve been trying to guess what Daryl did before the Turn,” Zach says, sitting next to Daryl on the window ledge. 

“He’s been trying to guess for like six weeks,” Daryl grumbles. “I like it when he bugs Barnes for a change.”

“I’m pacing myself. One shot a day,” Zach says. “Yesterday was Barnes’ turn, now it’s yours.”

“All right, shoot,” Daryl says. Zach rubs his nose for a second.

“Well, the way you are at the Prison, you being on the Council, you’re able to track, you’re helping people, but you’re still being kind of, uh, surly.” Daryl shoots him a warning look as the women smirk. “Big swing here. Homicide cop.” Zach’s declaration is proud, like he knows he’s cracked the case. Judging by the way Michonne and Romanoff start laughing, he’s not even close.

“What’s so funny?” Daryl asks of them. 

“Nothing. It makes perfect sense,” Michonne says with a wide smile.

“Actually, the man’s right,” Daryl says, a certain light coming into his face. “Undercover.” Zach’s eyes go wide.

“Seriously?” he says.

“Yeah. I don’t like to talk about it a lot, coz it was a lot of heavy shit, you know?” Daryl looks off into the distance. Romanoff snorts.

“Come on, dude. Really?” Zach insists. Daryl turns back with his usual unimpressed expression. Zach’s shoulders slump.

“Okay, I guess I’ll just keep guessing then,” he says.

“Gotta be closer than when you guessed I was a security guard,” Bucky says. 

“A security guard?” Michonne repeats. 

“It was before he saw the arm,” Bucky answers. Michonne laughs anyway. “He’s been getting better.”

*

They head into the store in formation, then break for supplies. Zach is about to head out in search when a hand grabs his arm. He freezes before remembering who his partner is.

“I heard something,” Barnes says in his scary quiet voice. “Come look with me.” Zach nods. For all his guessing, he’s still a little frightened by the man with the metal arm.

*

Eliot does not like this.

Clara babbles nervously to Clint about her story, how she and her husband were trapped in the Atlanta airport and how they survived. There’s something not right about her. All three men can see it. Rick keeps looking to Eliot like he’s not sure if they’re doing the smart thing. Unfortunately, they’ve committed and they have to see it through. None of them would sleep at night if they don’t.

*

Natasha wanders through the store with her list. She’s got a sense that things are about to go south, so she keeps half her attention on the sounds the others make as she ‘shops’ in the dark aisles.

Turns out she doesn’t need to be so careful. There’s a huge crash and fearful shout a few aisles over, followed by a LOT of glass smashing. Natasha throws her bag back over her shoulder and runs towards the source. Someone is trapped beneath the fallen liquor shelves, saved by the grace of God in the form of the beer display.

Daryl reaches the mess just as Natasha does, using his flashlight to illuminate Bob under the furthest shelf. The others come over in ones and twos.

“Are you hurt?” Natasha asks. Bob shakes his head, still stunned.

“No, man, but my foot is caught,” he says. 

“All right, he’s just caught,” Daryl says, standing up. He looks at Tyreese, Bucky, and Zach, who’ve just reached them. “Come on, help me up.” The men grab the first shelf while Natasha goes around to see where Bob’s foot is caught.

“What happened?” Glenn yells from across the store.

“It’s all right! We’re over in wine and beer!” Zach replies as the shelf comes back up. Natasha reaches the furthest shelf, but stops when she hears an ominous creaking. It’s distant enough that she can barely hear it. She glances at the men to see Bucky is also pausing. He looks at her, then looks up. 

“I was moving fast, man. I drove right into the drinks,” Bob says, happy to be unearthed. Bucky goes over to Natasha, moving too fast to be calm. Daryl sees that and is suddenly nervous himself.

“Let’s move fast,” Natasha says. “We-” The creaking turns into cracking and the ceiling breaks open. Everyone but Bob leaps backward from the grit and gravel pouring down. Then, to their horror, a Walker falls through the ceiling, entrails catching on the exposed beams and hanging them like the world’s grossest light fixture. The rest of the group arrives in time to see the Walker claw at its guts to free itself.

“Yeah, uh, we should probably go now,” Glenn says. Natasha and Bucky are already heading back to Bob. 

“Bob’s still stuck! We need to get him outta there!” Daryl says. Another Walker falls in as if to punctuate his point. 

Natasha braces herself under the lowest point of the shelf trapping Bob and begins to push. Bucky does the same higher up. More cracks and crashes, each registering in Natasha’s brain as another threat. She focuses on the pushing for now.

*

Alec is in the courtyard, looking over the designs Charlie gave him while listening to Dex and Carl plot at the next table over. They’re trying very hard to be surreptitious. It’s adorable. 

In the midst of Alec making a note on a design, Dex shrieks. Alec drops his pencil and sees Dex’s terror-filled face. Carl has a knife in hand, looking around for the danger. Alec runs over. 

“Hey, hey, Dex, what’s wrong?” He doesn’t put hands on the kid right away, just in case, but Dex clings onto him and starts sobbing.

“Trapped- Wa- Walkers- ev- every- everywhere!” 

“It’s all right, Dex, I got you,” Alec says, wrapping Dex in his arms. “Come back to me, little man, come back here.” Alec is pretty sure Dex is picking up on someone else’s situation. Whose, he can’t know yet, but there’s no immediate danger to them here.   
Carl sheathes his knife, looking grim. Other people resume walking past and pretend they don’t notice. Ella appears out of freaking nowhere to latch onto Alec and her brother, truly Parker’s granddaughter. 

“I’ll go find Charlie,” Carl says. He hurries off and Alec is left with two upset kids, praying everyone is going to come home in one piece.

*

It’s like a scene from a nightmare- Walkers falling through the ceiling in random places, dust flying into people’s eyes, someone trapped and calling for help. 

Michonne stays near the collapsed shelves, trying to keep the Walkers from Bob and the two rescuing him. As the shelf comes up, there’s an ominous groan from the ceiling. Michonne looks up- a helicopter is resting precariously on the exposed beams of the roof. 

“We gotta go!” Glenn shouts, pulling a Walker away from Tyreese. 

“Grab Bob!” Natasha yells. She and Bucky have the last shelf partially up, both sweating and straining. Zach and Daryl get there first. Daryl dispatches a Walker while Zach helps Bob out. Natasha and Bucky drop the shelf with a loud crash that almost covers the sound of Zach screaming. 

“Zach!” Michonne runs over and sees red spurting from Zach’s leg. A Walker is already chewing on his calf muscle and the boy screams some more. Natasha grabs Michonne by the arm. The rest of the run group flees the collapsing store, the helicopter crashing into the liquor displays behind them. Michonne’s throat burns. Whether that’s from the dust or the grief is a mystery she doesn’t want to solve.

*

Clara leads the men to a campsite in a field. There’s a surprising amount of supplies, Rick notes, but no sign of another person around.

“Oh thank God you’re still here!” Clara says. She hurries to a small, broken plywood box on the ground. “This is Clint, and Rick, and Eliot! They’re going to help us! Everything’s gonna be okay.” Rick looks at the tent. There’s a single sleeping bag, with one pillow. The whole site is set up for one-

“Rick!” Someone knocks him aside as Clara screams. Rick stumbles backward but stays upright, Barton gripping his arms tightly. Clara, her knife in ready position, hits the ground with Eliot’s knee in her back.

“Stay down!” Eliot orders. Clara struggles fruitlessly, limbs wriggling and knife stabbing the grass. Eliot takes the knife and tosses it towards the trees. Clara sobs and the wriggling stops.

“I wanted to take the boar,” she says. “I just knew- I knew I’d get you here so much quicker. He’s starving! He’s slowing, he needs something alive!” Barton and Rick look to that plywood box again. 

Rick had thought it was a grave marker, but the reality is much worse. A decaying head growls and groans from within the three walls of the box. 

“I told you, I can’t be without him!” Clara says, her teary words sounding so very far away through Rick’s horror. “I kept him! I know it’s wrong, but… but…” She trails off. Rick tears his gaze away from the head to look at his friends. The other men have somber expressions.

“What do we do?” Barton says. Rick sure as hell doesn’t want to make that decision. It doesn’t seem like anyone does.

“Let me be like him!” Clara pleads. “When it happens, don’t stop it! Don’t end it after! Let me be with him, please!” Eliot shuts his eyes. 

“Barton, take Rick out of here,” he says, the gravel in his voice softened. 

“What are you gonna do?” Rick says as Barton takes his arm again. “What are you gonna do, Eliot?”

“Just go in the woods while I handle this, all right?” Eliot snaps, glaring at Rick. “You don’t need to see this.” His hand goes for the knife on his belt. Rick shakes his head and lets Barton pull him to the trees.

“Is this why you followed me?” Rick jerks his arm away. Barton is unfazed. “You two think I can’t handle myself?”

“You won’t bring your gun or anyone else. You’re not making smart choices there,” Barton says. “It’s not fair to have the whole Prison, to have your family, worry about you getting killed out here. So yeah, Eliot and I come after you. And I’m glad we did.” 

“You think I couldn’t have handled her?” Rick demands. “I’ve handled worse-”

“Yeah, and it fucked you up for months!” Barton interrupts. “You’re not built for this shit, Rick! You’re a protector, not a killer, and having to do something like this is bad for you! We are built for this, and we do it so you don’t have to!” There’s more anger in his voice than Rick’s ever heard from him before. Rick pauses in an attempt to think of a response.

“Thank you,” Rick says finally. “I… didn’t think of it that way. I forget… who you used to be.” Barton nods, looking mildly uncomfortable. Grass crunches and Eliot appears.

“You two done making noise?” he says, wiping his knife clean on a rag. “There’s two bodies to bury and a bunch of supplies to bring back.” 

“Let’s get to it,” Barton says, heading back for the campsite. Rick takes a moment to study Eliot, who pretends he doesn’t notice the stare, before following.

*

Dex’s still calming down when storytime comes around, so Carl and the girls go without him. Ella and Sophia both seem to think they won’t be able to research. Carl keeps telling them it will be fine.

“-the children fastened their eyes upon their bit of candle and watched it melt slowly, pitilessly away,” Sophie is reading as they come to the library door. Carl sees the circle of kids in front of her, Patrick in a chair between Lori and Carol. “Saw the half inch wick stand alone at last. Saw the feeble flame rise and fall. Climb the thin tower of smoke, linger at its top a moment and then…” The A Team walks carefully and quietly through the shelves as Sophie reads. Then she stops and Carl hears the scraping of something being dragged. He looks over the books he’d been checking to see Sophie and Carol opening an old trunk.

“Ma’ams, should I take watch now?” a boy asks.

“Yes, Luke, you do that,” Carol tells him. She and Sophie bring something out of the trunk while the boy heads to the door. Carl sees the glint of metal in the women’s hands.

“Today, we are talking about knives,” Carol says, and Carl’s mouth falls open. He glances to the next shelf, where Ella shrugs. 

“Ma’am, may I be dismissed?” Patrick says, getting Carl’s attention. 

“What is it, Patrick?” Lori asks. She’s on her feet too, already leaning down to the knives. 

“I’m not feeling very well,” Patrick says. 

“Sometimes you’re gonna have to fight through it,” Carol says. “What if you wind up out there alone? You just give up because you’re feeling bad?”

“No, it’s just… I don’t want to yack on somebody,” Patrick answers. Lizzie slides away from his chair. Sophie stands up and puts a hand on his forehead. 

“You do feel a bit warm. Go lie down, have some water,” she says. Patrick hurries out of the library, passing the researchers. Carl is still watching the women as they begin a lesson on knives. He can’t believe these three sweet women are teaching kids how to fight. This is so weird.

*

Charlie has just finished consoling Dex when Maggie comes into the cell, looking grim.

“The run group’s back,” Maggie says. “It didn’t go well.” Dex gives a sniff and Charlie realizes that’s what he saw, not the rough trip Rick, Eliot, and Clint had. Well, shit. 

“I’ll be there in a few,” Charlie says. Maggie nods and steps out of the cell. Charlie rubs Dex’s shoulder. 

“I’ll send Mom in when I leave,” she says. “Does that sound good?”

“Yeah,” Dex says in a soft voice. “M sorry I couldn’t tell you.”

“Hey, hey, don’t you be sorry,” Charlie says. She kisses his head. “That’s a really rough thing, to see something like that and not be able to help. You don’t have to do anything more than deal with it.” Dex curls in on himself and Charlie sighs. He’s too much like her sometimes.

*

When Nate said they’d keep an eye out for more of the Walkers with the weird bleeds, he thought that was going to be the worst of things. Then the run group loses Zach, the store they were raiding is a no-go, one of the pigs has died for apparently no reason, and Rick spots another bleeding Walker on the fence. 

“When it rains, it pours,” Sophie says when she and Nate talk about it after dinner. Nate nods. He’s got this bad feeling in his gut that it’s only going to get worse.

“I’m going to go talk to Bob about what happened,” Nate says. “Sasha thinks he’s blaming himself. I’ll see what I can do there.”

“Are you going to mention his shelf choice?” Sophie asks, one eyebrow raised as if to add that he had better do so. 

“I will, and I will talk to him about self-medicating during the apocalypse,” Nate replies. “I got this, Soph, it’s practically a con.” Sophie shakes her head.

“You’re utterly unbearable sometimes,” she says. “Good luck.”

“Since when have I needed luck?” Nate says, and Sophie shoves him.

*

Rick is exhausted, so Lori lets him put Judith to bed and get some extra sleep. She does her best to help those from the run group calm down enough to rest themselves, finding them scattered around the prison and dealing in their own ways, leaving be the ones who’ve got someone to help already. 

Lori finds Bucky last. He’s sitting on a catwalk, legs crossed under him, fiddling with a folding blade. She doesn’t say anything at first; she’s trying to figure out what he’s doing with the knife before she gets close. It looks as though he’s flicking it open and closed repeatedly.

“I’m still me,” Bucky says without looking at her. Lori jumps in surprise. “Not gonna hurt anybody.”

“I didn’t think you were going to do that,” Lori replies. “I just didn’t want to spook you.” Bucky grunts. Lori walks over and sits beside him. “You okay?”

“Wonderful,” Bucky says. Lori can hear the blade whisper open and click shut now. 

“Coulda fooled me,” she says. “No one’s seen you since you got back.”

“Don’t feel like dealing with people right now,” Bucky says. 

“Glenn told me you and Natasha got Bob free,” Lori says. “You should be happy about that, at least.” 

“He wasn’t my partner,” Bucky says, blade going a little faster now. “Was supposed to be watching Zach. Kid’s first run, they put me in charge of him.”

“He was helping Bob too. You can’t blame yourself-”

“It was my job to have his back. Steve trusted me to look out for him, and I wasn’t there,” Bucky snaps. The blade clicks closed almost violently.

“Steve?” Lori repeats. Bucky pauses, then looks up at her. His face has gone so soft.

“I meant Zach,” he mumbles. Lori reaches out, letting her hand linger a few inches from his shoulder, and Bucky leans into her touch. She rubs his back. 

“It’s okay,” Lori says. “Things happen. We can’t be on top of everything all the time.” 

*

Natasha is combing the last of the grit from her hair when she hears the rustle of paper at her cell door. She looks over and Michonne is there with her map.

“You got a minute?” Michonne says. Natasha nods. “Good. I wanted to mark a few places for the others to check out. Alternatives to the Big Spot.”

“Good idea,” Natasha says. She scoots over on the bed and Michonne sits beside her. The map is laid out on the table Natasha keeps next to her bed.

“There’s a convenience store down this road.” Michonne takes out a marker. Natasha watches her callused hands glide over the map. “Looked pretty untouched when we saw it, yeah?” 

“Yeah, but small,” Natasha adds. “There’s a bigger one a few miles west. The back looked charred, but the front’s solid.” Michonne marks that store as well. The moonlight streams in from the barred windows, putting Michonne’s profile in sharp relief. Natasha studies that profile like a mission briefing, like her life depends on it. She wishes she knew how to do this sort of thing. Flirting with a mark is one thing, but initiating a relationship? Natasha is unprepared for that.

*

Dex and Carl have a room to themselves now. Their parents ruled a few months ago that the A-Team was getting too old to have four in a room, so the boys got one room and the girls got the one next to it. At least, that’s how it’s supposed to be set up. There’s a lot of trading and for a while Dex stayed with Ella or Sophia while he was mad at Carl, so tonight is actually the first night in a while that Dex and Carl have slept in the same room.

Carl has trouble falling asleep. Dex was out like a light as soon as the lantern was off, but Carl finds himself too wired. The Walkers with the bleeding eyes, the run group’s problems, Dex seeing those problems, the moms and Sophie teaching kids how to fight… it’s just too much.

“Go to sleep.” Dex’s grumble surprises Carl, as does the pillow flung up at him from the bottom bunk. It slaps Carl’s chest with a soft ‘floomf.’

“How’d you know I was awake?” Carl says.

“You were worrying. Loudly,” Dex says. “Granddad’s got the bleeders. Your mom’s handling the run group. Michonne’s finding a new supply spot. Kids need to defend themselves. Now go to sleep before you give me nightmares.” Carl swings the pillow back down. 

“Like I could give you nightmares after today,” he says. Dex doesn’t answer that, so Carl leans over the side. “Sorry. That was mean.”

“But not wrong,” Dex says softly. 

“You can always come up here if they get bad,” Carl says. “I’ll do my best to not worry.” Dex smiles. His teeth are starting to finally grow in. They’ll look nice when they’re done growing.

“Thanks.”

“What are best friends for?”


	4. Sick

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I would like apologize for the time between updates. Real life has been draining my energy lately. The good news is I'm switching jobs and should have much more energy/time in January, so fingers crossed you won't have to wait as long for the next chapter.

Parker has trouble sleeping. She heads up to the roof, hoping the crisp air will clear her mind. 

It’s not quiet at night anymore. It used to be that you could find quiet, even in the city once you got used to the traffic sounds, but there’s no rhythm to the Walkers’ snarling. Parker hates that lack of quiet. She tries to focus on the stillness in the yard instead.

But then it is not still.

A flashlight bobs in the dark, someone making their way across the yard. Parker studies the spot of light and tries to make out the shape of the person. She’s determined that it’s a small person by the time they reach the fence. The Walkers, just feet away now, pick up their growling like predators closing in on prey. Parker watches with growing horror as the person takes a small, struggling thing- a rat, most likely- and tosses it to the Walkers. They toss another, and a third, and the Walkers trip all over themselves to get at the poor creatures. The sounds they make are loud and no doubt attracting the rest of the Walkers.

“You little shit!” Parker hisses. “That’s where the buildup is coming from!”

*

Rick wakes up when Judith starts fussing for her morning bottle. Beside him, Lori groans. 

“I got her,” Rick says softly. He kisses Lori’s head and sits up. Judith coos at the sight of him moving. Rick gathers her up. “Come here, sweetheart, let’s get your breakfast together.” 

Judith is a fairly patient baby, unlike Carl had been, and she’s pretty content to mess with Rick’s shirt as he fixes up her bottle. Lori gets out of bed just after Rick’s given Judith the bottle, and she handles waking up Carl.

“Morning handsome,” Lori says, coming over to Rick. “You sleep okay?” She kisses his cheek and then Judith’s. 

“Not bad,” Rick says. “That woman in the woods, she was in my dreams. I kept trying to save her, but…” He doesn’t finish. Lori rubs his shoulder.

“I’m sorry,” she replies. “That’s a terrible thing, what happened to her.”

“Yeah, it was,” Rick says, adjusting Judith’s bottle so she doesn’t make so much of a mess. “You know, Barton said something interesting to me while we were out there.”

“About?” Lori says cautiously. 

“About how he and I are built differently. He and Eliot, they’re trained for these… no-win scenarios,” Rick says. He’s choosing his words carefully here, as he does not want to imply bad things about these men. “They’re trained to handle these situations. I’m not. I’m built to handle people needing help. It never occurred to me that those things could be separate.”

“Well.” Lori strokes Judith’s head. “Sometimes they are. I couldn’t handle what you saw. Natasha doesn’t know what to do when someone starts crying. But we’re both important in our own ways.” Rick nods.

“I’m still learning,” he says. Carl finally stumbles out of his room and towards the table. Surprisingly, Charlie exits her cell too.

“You’re up early,” Lori says, getting Carl’s breakfast together. Charlie shrugs. 

“Dex’s dreams were bleeding into mine. I’m going to go check something out,” she says. “Rick, you mind coming with me?”

“No problem. Lori-”

“I got her.” Lori is already reaching to take Judith. Once the baby is safely transferred from one parent to the other, Rick follows Charlie out of the cell block.

*

“What are we looking for?” Rick asks Charlie. She shrugs.

“I’m not sure. Dex picked up on something, something gory enough to creep into his dreams, then mine,” Charlie says. “It might just be someone’s nightmare, but I want to check on everyone regardless.” They walk down the hall, where they run into Michonne and Natasha. Were Charlie not so distracted by her son’s dreams, she might have noted that the women came from the same cell.

“Heading out?” Rick says.

“We were thinking we could find somewhere to replace the Big Spot,” Michonne says. “We won’t take too long.”

“Good,” Charlie says absently. 

“Something wrong?” Natasha says. 

“Not sure yet. Maybe wait a little before you leave,” Charlie answers. Natasha and Michonne tense up. 

“I’ll check on the watchtowers,” Natasha says, already walking away.

“I’ll join the perimeter check,” Michonne says. 

“She said she wasn’t sure,” Rick protests, though he’s starting to sound uneasy. “It could be a nightmare.”

“Erring on the side of caution, Rick,” Michonne replies. “I’ll meet you at the watchtowers if I don’t find anything.” She hurries off too. Charlie starts walking again, Rick following with more caution than before.

*

“Babe, run that by us again?” Alec rubs his face. He hadn’t even gotten out of the room when Parker dragged Eliot in, loudly declaring that she has something important to tell them. Alec is sure he misheard her next few sentences.

“Someone is luring Walkers to the fence,” Parker repeats. “I saw them, last night. They’re catching rats and tossing them over the fence.”

“Why would anyone do that?” Eliot says, trying very hard to be patient. “Everyone knows that the pits and the fences are the only defense between us and the Walkers.”

“I don’t know why, but they’re doing it,” Parker says. 

“Parker, are you sure you weren’t asleep?” Alec says. Parker gives him a mighty glare and he raises his hands in appeasement. “It’s just really hard to believe. You were worried about the Walker buildup, having dreams about it would make sense.”

“I wasn’t asleep. I got up and went to the roof because I couldn’t sleep,” Parker replies testily. “You know I only dream about jewel heists and jumping off tall buildings.”

“Tell you what, you take me to the fence where you saw the person and we can look for bones,” Eliot says. That makes Parker a little less annoyed. Alec opens his mouth to suggest looking for rat traps when gunfire cuts him off. All thoughts of rats disappear.

“Where-”

“D-Block,” Parker says. All three grab something sharp and/or heavy before running out of their room.

*

By the time Sophie and Nate reach D-Block, the fighting has stopped. Instead, the carnage from a brutal, bloody fight covers the room, bodies both human and Walker. 

“I don’t understand,” Nate says to no one in particular. “I was here last night, everything was fine…” He stares at the viscera. Sophie puts a hand on his arm, unable to think of anything comforting.

“Would someone go get Dex?” Charlie shakes blood off the hammer she’s holding. “He picked up on this in his sleep, he might know how it started.”

“I’m on it,” T-Dog says. He heads past Nate and Sophie. Daryl, Rick and Glenn come down from the upper level, carrying a body too small to be one of the adults.

“Is that Patrick?” Sophie asks, voice hitching. 

“Yeah,” Rick says gruffly.

“He’s been dead a while,” Daryl says. They reach the main floor and set Patrick down beside another corpse. “We got two more up there.” 

“You get one, me and Barnes will get the other,” Eliot says. They head back to the stairs. 

“How could this have happened?” Sophie says. “Was there a breach somewhere?”

“This is the only place we’ve seen them. The tombs are sealed off,” Sasha says. “Someone must have just… died.” 

“People don’t just die,” Glenn says. “Everyone here was fine yesterday.”

“People just die all the time, Glenn. Aneurysm, heart attack. Shit happens,” Alec replies. Beside him, Parker looks more dubious. 

“I have to go with Glenn. Until we rule out the possibility of danger, we can’t assume this was random,” Charlie says. “Natasha?” Sophie turns her gaze to the former spy, who is bent down beside Patrick. 

“There’s something strange about the blood flow,” Romanoff says. “It looks as if his eyes were bleeding.” 

“Oh my God,” Nate says under his breath. Most of the room can’t hear him, but Sophie can.

“Eliot mentioned he saw a Walker with bleeding eyes yesterday,” Glenn says. “He had the watch teams looking out for more.” 

“Well,” Charlie says, voice tight, “we’d best check all the bodies for that. When Hershel gets back, have him take a close look at all this. Bob and I will check over the survivors. Sasha, Pops, if you’d go let the other cell blocks know the crisis is over-”

“For now,” Romanoff adds. Sophie prays she’s wrong.

*

They find another body with the bleeding eyes and all four medical professionals (Charlie, Hershel, Bob, and Caleb Subramanian, a former ER doc) agree this is definitely some kind of illness. 

“Pleurisy aspiration,” Caleb says to the members of the Council that came to D-Block. “That’s what killed them- and caused the eye bleeding.”

“What’s that mean in plain English?” Rick says. 

“Choked to death on their own blood,” Hershel supplies. 

“The internal lung pressure builds up. It’s the same effect as shaking a soda can and popping the top,” Caleb continues.

“Only the soda is your blood and the top is any convenient orifice,” Charlie says darkly. 

“Eliot said he saw Walkers with the same blood trails,” Glenn says. “Does that mean it came from the Walkers?”

“No, these things aren’t transferable from corpses,” Eliot says. 

“Could be pneumococcal. Most likely an aggressive flu strain,” Caleb says. 

“The flu did this?” Sasha asks, incredulous. “I’ve never heard of the flu killing someone like this.”

“Because we used to have antivirals available at every pharmacy,” Nate says. “Not to mention scientists creating new vaccines every year. Spanish influenza was the last time people had to really worry about the flu-”

“Actually, we once apprehended a terrorist who tried to hit D.C. with a weaponized strain of Spanish flu,” Parker says. Several people look at her with wide eyes and she shrugs.

“I didn’t know that,” Charlie says.

“Alec doesn’t like remembering it,” Parker replies. Alec does indeed look slightly gray.

“How can someone die in just a day from a cold?” Daryl says, getting them back on track. “Those two were fine yesterday.”

“Same thing happened with one of the pigs yesterday,” Rick says. Alec groans.

“Pigs and birds. That’s how these things spread in the past,” Hershel says. 

“That’s how the terrorist tested the flu strain too,” Alec says. “We have got to get rid of the pigs.”

“Maybe we got lucky. Maybe these two cases are it,” Caleb says.

“Haven’t seen anybody be lucky in a long time,” Bob replies. “Bugs like to run through close quarters. Doesn’t get any closer than this.”

“Everyone in here has been exposed,” Eliot adds grimly. “We need to set up a quarantine as soon as possible.”

“That’s going to be tricky,” Romanoff says. “More than half the prison’s been exposed.”

“We’ll figure something out,” Charlie says. “Pops, how’d you eliminate the flu threat last time?”

“Fire,” Alec says. “Parker set it on fire and damn near gave me a heart attack.”

“All right, so we burn the corpses and everything in their cells,” Barnes says. 

“Maybe we just sterilize the stuff with bleach,” Sasha suggests. 

“We could set the whole block on fire,” Parker says. She gets another round of questioning looks. “I was kidding!”

*

While most of the block is being cleared out of anything that could carry the virus, Sophie is checking on the injured. Most wounds are superficial, scrapes and bruises, but Carol has the unlucky bite victim in his cell. 

Sophie hesitates before going into that cell. The man’s daughters are saying their goodbyes, and Sophie’s never been good at that sort of thing. She glances around for something else to do first; all she finds is Nate talking to Hershel in a hushed tone, probably about Bob. Sophie sighs and heads into the cell.

“Sophie, I think you should take the girls,” Carol says, pulling the two away from their father.

“No. We should be the ones to do it,” Lizzie says, looking to her sister. Sophie’s jaw drops. Lizzie is ten. She should not be this ready to… to euthanize her father. Mika shakes her head.

“No, I can’t,” she says in a teary voice. Sophie pulls her close. 

“It’s all right, darling, you don’t have to.” She rubs Mika’s shoulder while Carol eyes Lizzie.

“You sure you want to do this?” Carol asks. Lizzie nods.

“You taught us. I can do it,” she says. Carol hands Lizzie the knife.

“Okay, well, you have to do it now,” Carol says. She brings Lizzie closer. “You have to do it right now because you have to do it before he turns. I’m gonna stay right here.” Lizzie stands over her father with the knife. Sophie’s stomach turns. “You remember what I showed you?” Lizzie’s hands shake. She looks down at her father, who can’t have more than minutes before turning, and her resolve breaks. The knife drops as she starts gasping. Carol is already there, taking her by the shoulders.

“Lizzie. Lizzie, it’s okay.” She looks Lizzie in the eye. “It’s okay. Go with Sophie, I’ve got this.” Mika and Sophie both reach for Lizzie while Carol picks up the knife again.

“Breathe deeply with me, Lizzie,” Sophie instructs, getting down on the girl’s level. “In and out with me.” She takes a slow, deep breath and Lizzie tries to mimic her. 

“Look at the flowers, Lizzie,” Mika says, turning her sister to the small pot by the sink “Breathe with Sophie: one, two, three…”

*

Charlie went back to her cell block with Dex to explain to the rest what was going on. She let Dex do a lot of the talking so she can think things over before the council meeting scheduled in an hour or so, but it’s hard to concentrate. 

“You’re saying it was all some kind of flu?” Maggie repeats. “How could it work that fast?”

“Uncle Nate says it has to due with close living quarters and a lack of antivirals,” Dex says. “Patrick must have died sometime before midnight.” Charlie looks at Carl with that; he’d been close to Patrick. But Carl doesn’t seem to be listening. His eyes are glassy as they stare past Charlie’s shoulder. It’s then Charlie notices the sweat beading on his nose. 

Fear spikes in her gut and she looks to the other three kids. Dex and Ella seem fine, just a little tired, but Sophia has almost the same glassiness as Carl. 

“Carl, Sophia, are you two feeling all right?” Charlie asks in the calmest voice she can manage. Lori and Maggie still whip their heads towards the two. 

“My head hurts,” Sophia says. 

“Mine too,” Carl agrees. “And I’m… itchy…” He sways. Maggie gets an arm around him just before he crumples. Beth and Ella latch onto Sophia as she does the same. 

“Oh my God!” Lori exclaims as Judith starts to cry. Charlie comes over to Maggie and Carl to put a hand on his forehead.

“Is it the flu?” Maggie says in a low voice. Charlie shakes her head.

“I can’t find any respiratory problems,” she says. “It doesn’t feel like any infection I’ve ever dealt with, and his blood pressure’s normal.” She moves towards Sophia, touching the girl’s neck. “Same here. Normal blood pressure, normal respiration.”

“Then what is it?” Beth says. 

“I don’t know. I’m getting a lot of cellular activity, but nothing like a flu,” Charlie says. She lowers her hands in frustration. She’d need a fully stocked medical ward to figure out what the hell this is, let alone treat it. All they’ve got is what they could salvage from first aid kits in various cars and houses. 

“Let me help.” Bucky appears beside Beth and Ella, holding out his arms to take Sophia. They let him lift her away, hardly a strain for him. “Should I put her in her bed?”

“For now. I’ll talk to Hershel about what he thinks,” Charlie says. “Maggie, I’ll take Carl-”

“We’ll do it together,” Maggie interrupts. Charlie doesn’t have time to argue with that. She and Maggie pick up Carl and they follow Bucky into one of the kids’ cells. 

*

The Council meetings are never a barrel of laughs, but this one feels particularly somber. Every member is there today: Carol, Daryl, Hershel, Charlie, Lori, Maggie, Sasha, Glenn, Natasha, Clint, T-Dog, and the whole Leverage team. Despite the large group, it takes a few minutes for anyone to break the silence.

“Patrick was fine yesterday, and he died overnight,” Carol says finally. “He died that quick?”

“He was feeling nauseous in the afternoon,” Lori points out. 

“We need to enact a quarantine,” Alec says. “It’s the only way to keep this thing from spreading.”

“That’s everyone in that cell block,” Daryl says. “That’s all of us. Maybe more.”

“We know that this sickness can be lethal,” Hershel replies. “We don’t know how easily it spreads. Is anyone else showing symptoms that we know of?”

“They’ll be infectious before they show symptoms,” Alec says. “By then it’s too late.”

“Alec’s right. We can’t just wait and see,” Nate says. 

“There’s too many people with vulnerable immune systems,” Eliot adds. “Kids and old people.”

“It’s not just the illness,” Carol says. “If people die, they become a threat.” 

“We need a secure place for when it gets to that point,” Parker continues. “D’s not secure enough.”

“Cell block A?” Natasha suggests.

“Death Row?” Glenn says, probably wishing he was more horrified. “I'm not sure that's much of an upgrade.”

“It’s clean,” Clint says. “That’s an upgrade.”

“Will that work for Dr. S?” T-Dog says to Hershel, who nods.

“I’ll help Caleb get it set up,” he says. “He and I will stay in quarantine with the sick.”

“Maybe I should go instead, Hershel,” Charlie says. “I’m less vulnerable to infection-”

“No, you shouldn’t,” Hershel replies in a firm voice. “You’re our leader. People need you out here, taking care of things.” Charlie narrows her eyes.

“What about Sophia and Carl?” Maggie asks. “They don’t seem to have the flu.”

“No, they don’t seem to,” Hershel says.

“Maybe it’s a delayed reaction to something they encountered on the road,” Alec says. “Or an allergic reaction to something in the prison. People can have no symptoms or camouflaged symptoms until they hit a threshold.”

“Whatever it is, it’s not the same thing as the others, and we shouldn’t put them in quarantine,” Lori says, her fists clenched tight. “They won’t be able to fight off that flu with the other thing going on.”

“It may be the safest place for them,” Eliot says, and Lori gives him a wide-eyed look. “If people get scared enough of this flu, they’ll come after anyone showing symptoms of anything.”

“And they’ll be better off where the doctors are,” Sophie says. Before Lori or anyone else can rebut those statements, loud coughs reverberate through the hallway outside. A good half of the group goes out to see who it is. Carol is out first, the first to see Karen and Tyreese walking down the hall.

“You don’t sound so good,” Carol says, getting their attention. They turn to her, a little confused. 

“I’m just taking her back to my cell so she can rest,” Tyreese says innocently as the Council files around Carol. 

“Tyreese, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” Hershel says. 

“Why, what’s going on now?” Karen asks. She’s got a sheen of sweat on her skin that only deepens Carol’s suspicion.

“We think it’s a flu or something,” Glenn says. “That’s how Patrick died.”

“Judith and the twins are in Tyreese’s cell block,” T-Dog says, almost apologetic. “They’re vulnerable to infection. They need to stay away from anyone that might be sick.”

“It killed Patrick?” Karen repeats with a hitch in her voice.

“Karen’s gonna be okay,” Tyreese says. “Now that we know what Patrick died from, we can treat it, right?”

“Don’t panic. We’ll figure this out,” Sophie says, gliding over to Karen. “Keeping people separated is just a precaution. Caleb will look you over and Hershel will check out medication supplies, won’t you, Hershel?” She gives Hershel a look and he nods. 

“Has anyone else been coughing or feeling unwell?” he asks.

“David, from the Decatur group. He’s been coughing too,” Karen says, looking grim. It’s spreading, Carol thinks, looking to the rest of the Council members. As Glenn volunteers to go get David, Carol and Parker meet eyes. Parker seems to be thinking exactly what Carol is- something has to be done, and fast.

*

The meeting clears out, leaving Charlie, Carol, and Daryl alone. Carol hasn’t sat back down, her arms crossed.

“Ryan Samuels is dead,” she says. “He asked me to look after his daughters.”

“Lizzie and Mika?” Daryl says. Carol nods. “Shit, babe. We got enough problems with our own kids.”

“Doesn’t change the fact that those girls are alone now,” Charlie says. “My parents can help us out with that- but the girls will have to go into quarantine for now. Along with Sophia.” Her fists curl tight.

“Hershel’s right. People out here, they’ll go crazy if you’re stuck in quarantine,” Daryl says. 

“Plus your powers don’t do much on infections,” Carol adds. “I could go with the girls. I’ve played this role before.”

“If High and Mighty Doctor Greene agrees to it,” Charlie says with venom in her voice. “I’ll go reorganize work schedules. We’re going to need massive reshuffling to make up for the people going into quarantine as well as the dead.” She gets up and storms out. Carol and Daryl exchange a look. 

“She’s okay, right?” Daryl says softly. Carol shrugs.

“I think it’s stress. She’ll be fine,” she says. “You okay?” Daryl nods, jaw working.

“Mm-hmm. Got to be,” he says. “Got two kids who’ll be looking to us to take care of em. You all right?”

“Just worried,” Carol says. 

“It’ll be fine,” Daryl says. He stands. “I’ll go take care of the bodies. Holler if you need me.” He kisses her cheek before leaving, hoping his own worry doesn’t show too much.

*

After helping Sasha and Glenn get people settled in new cells, Sophie heads back to her own cell block to find Nate with a bag over his shoulder.

“What’s this?” Sophie asks. 

“I asked Lori to get my things,” Nate says. “I, uh, I’ve-” He covers his mouth as he starts coughing, quiet but hard coughs. Sophie’s blood runs cold. Nate lowers his arm. “Yeah. So I’m going into quarantine.”

“I’ll go with you,” Sophie says immediately. “I slept next to you, I’ve been exposed-”

“No, no, no, you have to stay healthy, for the others,” Nate interrupts, putting hands on her shoulders. “Parker, Alec, Eliot, Charlie, they need you. More than they’ve ever needed me. You have to stay healthy for them. Promise you will, Soph.”

“What about me needing you?” Sophie replies. She places her hands on his and Nate gives a weak smile.

“Hey, I’ve never let anything keep me down for long,” he says. “I’ll be fine. I just need to make sure everyone else is okay. And Lori’s coming into quarantine too, for Carl and Sophia. She’ll keep an eye on me. You know she’s still pissed at me over the washing machines.” Sophie laughs in spite of herself. Nate takes his hands away. 

“You take care of things in there,” Sophie says with a nod. “I’ll handle things out here. Don’t you dare die on me, Nate Ford, I’ll never forgive you.”

“I know,” Nate answers. Lori comes out of the cell block with her own bag. 

“Are you ready?” she asks. 

“Yeah. Let’s go.” Nate kisses Sophie on the cheek. “I love you. See you later.”

“I love you too.” Sophie watches Nate and Lori head off, her hands rubbing together as she tries to stave off her fear. Nate will be fine. The children will be fine. 

*

Clint Barton doesn’t know much about medicine.

Sure, he knows a lot about patching up somebody who’s been shot or stabbed or sprinkled with shrapnel, but the flu? Clint’s main experience with flus and colds is from his circus days, when the bearded lady and the strong man would make this godawful chicken soup that somehow did help people get better. That or they put something in it to make people sleep through the worst of it. Clint’s never been sure. Anyway, the point is that he feels particularly useless today.

The wire of the catwalk bounces and Clint turns to the door. T-Dog comes over, waving.

“Hey,” Clint says. “What’s up?”

“Just finished cleaning up D-Block,” T-Dog says. “I think the inside of my nose is scorched from all the bleach.”

“You do smell pretty chlorinated,” Clint agrees.

“I’m not surprised. Rick and Tiny are going to handle the pigs soon, and I was thinking we could use the wood from their barn to reinforce the fences,” T-Dog says. “I know you and Charlie were talking about that yesterday.”

“It’s a good idea. We should round up a group, keep people busy,” Clint says. “Who’s taking care of the bodies?”

“Clint, you don’t need to worry about that,” T-Dog says.

“I’m not worried. I figure I can help with that while we’re waiting on Rick and Tiny,” Clint says. “I can do more than keep watch and shoot arrows, you know.”

“I know that,” T-Dog says. “But we’re trying to keep as few people as possible in contact with the bodies. Just in case. Eliot, Bucky, and Daryl are burying them on the far side of the prison.”

“See? That’s all I wanted to know,” Clint says. He starts walking towards the door. “Now let’s go find some antsy people to do some hard labor. It’ll be fun.”

*

If Charlie weren’t worried about taking the Samuels girls under her wing before, finding out Lizzie was more upset about her father not coming back as a Walker than about him dying definitely makes her worried.

“Might just be a trauma thing,” she says to Carol anyway, as they walk back to the courtyard. “We’ll have to talk with her again, talk with the kids. They might know better than us what she’s going through.”

“They might,” Carol says. “I know Carl and Lizzie had a disagreement yesterday over those Walkers.” The women walk into the courtyard to see the twins stalking away from T-Dog, looking mutinous. Since T-Dog is holding a toolbox, Charlie can guess that the twins have just been denied helping.

“Hey, you two,” Carol calls, walking a little faster. The twins stop so their moms can catch up. “I thought you were helping Dr. S gather medical supplies.”

“We finished,” Dex says. “Now no one will let us do anything.”

“They’re just stressed out,” Charlie says.

“They’re treating us like we’re fragile!” Ella whines. “We’re not sick! We’re fine! We can do things!”

“Of course you can,” Charlie says, recognizing that frantic need to do something, anything. “I could use your help, actually. Gran and I were going to check out the Tombs. She’s got an idea about the Walker buildup she’s trying to flesh out.”

“In the Tombs?” Carol repeats. Charlie shrugs.

“Something to do with rats. I’m not entirely sure what she said, she was talking too fast. I think she broke into her chocolate stash and went on a sugar high.”

*

Michonne’s ankle itches under the bandage Beth is wrapping on it. It’s the healing kind of itch, so Michonne’s not worried, but she is annoyed by it. Natasha leans on the bedpost beside Michonne’s mattress, pretending she isn’t watching every move Beth makes. Natasha is weird like that; she won’t insist on doing the medical stuff, but if it’s done wrong, she will fix it as soon as the person’s back is turned. 

“Shoulda been there,” Michonne says bitterly. “We shoulda gone with Rick and Charlie. It was stupid going out to the yard.”

“It was covering the bases,” Natasha replies. “Stupid is not checking your shoelaces before running to help.” Michonne glares at her. It wasn’t the shoelaces that tripped Michonne up, it was part of a dead rat. She found the lower half of the rat by the fences, Walkers straining to get at it, and she was so unsettled by what looked like teeth marks on the corpse that she didn’t pay attention to the ground when she ran and tripped in a rut in the ground.

“I’m just glad you didn’t get hurt more than this,” Beth says. “I’d hate to see you hurt.”

“One less able body around, I know,” Michonne says. Beth looks up, round face so innocent.

“No, because I care about you,” she says. “We all do.” Michonne doesn’t know what to say to that. Then Judith starts to cry on the floor, her game abandoned. The sound grates on Michonne in more ways than one. Natasha’s hand brushes Michonne’s shoulder as Beth picks up Judith.

“Does she always cry like that?” Natasha asks casually. 

“Sometimes. I think she can sense the emotions of others,” Beth says. Babies do that, Michonne knows. She wishes she didn’t.

*

Parker leads Charlie and the twins into the Tombs, the four sticking close together and working almost silently to search for traps. As Parker had guessed, there are several of them not far from the D-Block side. More than one has a rat stuck helplessly inside, squeaking in desperation. Ella frees each rat without a word from anyone to stop her and without her hands. By the time they get back to the prison proper, blood has dried on her face.

“Well, we know for sure you weren’t dreaming,” Charlie says to Parker, bending down to wipe Ella’s face with a rag. “Question is, who’s behind this?”

“I’m pretty sure it’s someone from D,” Parker answers. “Maybe that’s how the flu got in. They picked it up from the Walkers with the eye thing and brought it back with them.”

“Dad doesn’t think Walkers could be infectious like that, but I wouldn’t rule it out,” Charlie says. “Man, I wish I got to finish my virology rotation before Loki stole the Tesseract.”

“Charlie!” Sasha runs into the room, eyes wide. “You’re not gonna believe what we found by the fences!”

“Half-eaten rats?” Dex suggests. Sasha stares at him. “We just found a bunch of traps in the Tombs.”

“I saw someone bringing rats to the fence last night,” Parker says. 

“What, like sabotage?” Sasha says. That’s what Charlie’s afraid of. She’s hoping it’s a kid misunderstanding what Walkers are, but she can’t dismiss the possibility that someone inside the Prison is trying to undermine their safety.

“There’s no reason to think so right now,” she says instead. “How’s the reinforcement going?”

“Slow. It’s hard to distract the Walkers from the hammer sounds,” Sasha says. “Rick and Tiny are taking some of the pigs out in the truck to help with that.” 

“Ooh, that’s a good idea,” Parker says. “Too bad we didn’t hang onto the rats we found, that might have helped-”

“Leave the rats alone,” Ella interrupts, brow furrowing. “They didn’t do anything.” 

“They’re creepy,” Dex says. 

“Are not!” Ella replies. She pulls away from Charlie to defend the rats and Charlie shakes her head. Liking small furry things is probably the most normal thing Ella has ever done.

*

Natasha reluctantly leaves Michonne to do her exercise routine in peace and goes into the cell block. Only Beth and Judith are there, two individuals Natasha has no idea how to interact with, and she has every intention of passing them by to go find something to do.

Then Judith makes a moist sort of sound. Beth yelps. 

“Oh, shoot!” she says as Natasha comes closer. Bright orange now spots Beth’s yellow shirt. Beth looks up at Natasha. “Would you hold her a second?” She is already thrusting the crying baby at Natasha, whose brain locks up.

“I don’t know-”

“Just for a second, I’m covered in carrots!” Judith is suddenly on Natasha’s chest. Natasha’s arms go up to hold the weight, but her hold doesn’t look right and Judith’s noises remain unpleasant. Natasha racks her brain for any baby knowledge. You have to support the head, right? 

“Haven’t you ever seen a baby before?” Michonne is leaning on the door of the cell. 

“I’ve never held one!” Natasha’s panic leaks into her voice and Judith gets louder. Michonne bites her lip. Natasha looks back at the baby and tries to adjust. 

“Here.” Michonne has hobbled over. Gently, she takes Judith from Natasha, bringing the baby up to her face. Something in her face goes sadly soft. Michonne tucks Judith against her, nuzzling Judith’s face with hers. Judith calms down but Michonne starts crying silently. Natasha feels like a fucking moron. For lack of better options, she puts an arm around Michonne’s waist to support her weight. She can at least help Michonne stand up.

*

Alec Hardison is good at math. Always has been, especially with computers, but he grew up doing the complex stuff in his head and on paper. That’s a good thing these days. The math he’s working on in the dimming sunlight from the library window, that’s not so good.

“Hey.” Eliot is suddenly at Alec’s side and Alec jumps, his pencil drawing a dark slash across the page.

“Man! You said you weren’t gonna do the sneaky crap anymore!” Alec says, looking up. Eliot scoffs.

“I wasn’t being sneaky. You were focusing too hard to hear anything,” he says. “What is this?”

“Statistics,” Alec says. “Theoretical math. Don’t worry about it.”

“If you’re doing it on paper, there’s a reason to be worried about it,” Eliot says. Alec silently curses how well his husband knows him. “What’s the math for?”

“Rate of spread for the flu,” Alec says with reluctance. “How long it’ll take to hit all the blocks, for people to… you know.”

“Christ, Alec, why are you doing that?” Eliot says. “That’s not helping anyone- you’re just working yourself up with that!”

“I kept seeing it in my head, E, I had to do it so I wouldn’t come up with scarier numbers!” Alec’s hand smacks the paper and his pencil flies away. “Damn it!” He turns to get it, but Eliot takes his face with both hands, keeping him facing Eliot.

“You listen to me,” Eliot says, voice soft. “We are gonna be fine. The Prison is gonna be fine. We’ve beaten a super-bug before, we’ll do it again, you hear me?”

“Yeah,” Alec answers. He puts his hands over Eliot’s. “I hear you. I’m still scared, but I hear you.” 

“Good,” Eliot says, “I was afraid I’d have to drag you outta here and make you help with the fences to take your mind off things.”

“You wouldn’t,” Alec says, eyes narrowing. Eliot smirks. “Eliot…”

“Don’t make me go there and we won’t find out.”

*

Tyreese understands the quarantine thing. Really, he does. It’s not malicious, it’s precaution. Still, he doesn’t like Karen being locked in with sick people where he can’t help her. 

While Karen is packing up a few things to go to quarantine, Tyreese goes outside and picks some flowers. It’s not much, but maybe it’ll brighten up the dark gloom of Cell Block A a little. 

When he feels he’s got a good bunch, Tyreese heads back inside. He practices what he’s going to say when he presents the flowers to Karen on the way to her cell. She makes him a little tongue-tied, so he likes to be prepared. Yet Tyreese is utterly unprepared for the empty cell he finds, or what lies at the end of the blood trail that leads from it.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The Leverage team did stop a terrorist from spreading weaponized influenza, in the fifth season episode "The Rundown Job." Also, I cannot believe how long it took in TWD canon to actually put the quarantine in effect.


	5. Plans, Plants, and Preparations

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I am back! Once again, I am sorry for the delay. There was a death in the family and that really threw me for a while. Things are much better now, so hopefully writing will be better too.
> 
> Some quick FYI's:
> 
> 1\. Nate's fears about hospitals are centered around the death of his son, which is prominently mentioned in Leverage. I didn't want to go into it in the fic, but it's a big part of his character that he doesn't handle hospitals or sick kids well.
> 
> 2\. This is probably the last chapter without non-canon deaths. There are so many characters to juggle in this that I have legitimately forgotten people while writing, and as you might remember from the show, more characters will be arriving soon. I apologize in advance for the feels.
> 
> 3\. I researched the shit out of plants Hershel & Eliot could use and then ended up only including two in here. Both are native to the area the prison is in and can be used the way Hershel says. The more you know, right?

Before going into quarantine, Hershel has one last thing to arrange. 

He finds his daughters gathering the kids from the different cell blocks. Hershel doesn’t want to get too close to the children, so he hangs back by the doorway. Maggie notices him quick enough and comes over.

“Not too close,” Hershel says, as much as it pains him, holding up a hand when Maggie’s a few feet away. She nods.

“I know. Is everything all right?” Maggie says.

“Same as before,” Hershel says. “Are you going with the children?”

“No, Beth’s put herself in charge of that,” Maggie answers.

“Good.” Hershel nods. “I need you to keep an eye on Charlie for me. I was talking to Nate earlier. He said he noticed Charlie’s been acting odd lately-”

“He thinks she’s pregnant,” Maggie interrupts, and Hershel blinks in shock. “I think so too. Don’t worry, I’ll make sure she doesn’t take on too much.”

“Did she say something to you?” Hershel says.

“It’s more what she didn’t say,” Maggie says. “She might have just realized it, and she hasn’t exactly had time to process much outside this flu thing. I don’t think she’s talked to anyone about it yet.”

“All the more reason she needs someone looking out for her,” Hershel says. Maggie nods. “It’s probably best we don’t mention this to anyone else.”

“Probably,” Maggie agrees. “Be careful, okay?”

“You too.”

*

T-Dog stares at the burnt corpses and wants to quit. 

Tyreese had found him coming in from the fence work and demanded to have him and Charlie come see something. They found Charlie with Carol. Rick tagged along, as Rick does sometimes to support them via white male privilege, and all of them were led to the small fenced area that smelled like cooked flesh and burnt hair. T-Dog’s eyes water at the stench.

“What the fuck,” Charlie says, sounding as exhausted as T-Dog feels. “I mean, I know what the fuck, but really, what the fuck...”

“Someone... killed them and… burnt the bodies,” Rick says slowly. 

“Fire’s the only way to kill this thing,” T-Dog says, repeating what Alec told them. “Karen and David were sick, so someone decided to…”

“But how could they?” Rick demands. “Karen and David weren’t that sick yet, just coughing.”

“Tyreese,” Charlie says, looking back to the distraught man, “can you tell us what brought you here?” Tyreese looks at her with wide eyes. “It’s okay if you need a minute.”

“I went to see Karen,” Tyreese says, voice numb. “And I saw the blood on the floor.” He gestures to the trail they’d followed out before turning to the smoking bodies. “Then I smelled them.” Tyreese’s numbness becomes rage, his face flickering from one to the other. “Somebody DRAGGED THEM out here, and set them ON FIRE!” He directs this to Charlie, who to her credit stays calm. “They KILLED them and set them ON FIRE!” Charlie’s arm moves, probably to reach out for Tyreese, but Tyreese is suddenly in her face. T-Dog puts himself next to Tyreese out of instinct.

“You know people,” Tyreese says to Charlie, seemingly unaware of T-Dog. “You find out who did this and you bring em to me! You understand? You bring em to me!”

“We’ll find out who did this,” Charlie says curtly. “But we’re going to settle it as a group.”

“Karen didn’t deserve this!” Tyreese declares. “David didn’t deserve this!”

“No one does,” Charlie replies. T-Dog tries to put a hand on Tyreese’s shoulder.

“Come on, man, we can-” Tyreese whirls on T-Dog, pushing him back with more force than T-Dog can fight off. He stumbles back as everyone else moves between the blinking of his eyes. Tyreese shoves someone up against the wall hard and Rick yells. By the time T-Dog recovers, Rick’s got his pistol out and Carol’s knife is in hand. 

“I ain’t going nowhere till I find out who did this!” Tyreese shouts in Charlie’s face, which is level with his for once. Charlie holds out a hand to the others. She looks rattled, as most people would with their feet dangling in the air, but not afraid. 

“Tyreese,” she says. “You’ve learned all you can here. We’ll need to get Romanoff or Barnes if we want to learn more, but we all need to calm down before we can do that.” Tyreese blinks like he’s waking up. His shoulders relax and he lowers Charlie to the ground.

“I’m sorry,” Tyreese says. “I don’t know why I- I’m sorry-”

“I understand,” Charlie says. “I’ve been there, and I don’t blame you.” She slowly puts her hand on his arm. “We’re going to find out who did this, and we’ll set things right. For now, you need to take a minute and put yourself together, okay? Karen needs you level-headed.” Tyreese looks like he’s been sucker-punched. T-Dog comes over, cautious and slow.

“Let’s take a walk, Tyreese,” he says. “I’ll come with you. We can talk if you want.” Tyreese shakes his head.

“I should- I shouldn’t be around people,” he says. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” T-Dog says. Tyreese staggers to the door. Once he’s gone, Charlie lets out a ragged breath. Her rattled look seems to become worse. 

“I’ll get Romanoff or Barnes,” Rick says, pistol holstered once more. “I can handle all the investigation stuff if you want.”

“Yeah. Yeah, sounds good,” Charlie says breathlessly. Carol puts an arm around her. 

“Let’s go sit down for a minute,” she suggests. Charlie nods.

“T-Dog, can you handle things for a little while?” Charlie says. 

“You got it. Take your time,” T-Dog says. The women head inside. T-Dog looks back at the bodies. If someone’s taking matters into their own hands with this kind of violence, they’re going to have a lot of problems.

“You know it has to be someone from the Council meeting,” Rick says. “They’re the only ones who heard Alec say the fire thing.”

“I know,” T-Dog says. “We’ll take this step by step. It’s the only way we can do this right.”

*

Tyreese’s arms ache. Most of him aches, but nothing hurts as much as his heart, so he continues to shovel dirt out of what will be a grave. 

“You should get cleaned up.” Tyreese stops to see Bob coming over. He goes back to his digging. “You might even need a couple stitches.”

“When they in the ground,” Tyreese grunts back. Bob bends down beside the hole Tyreese has dug.

“You could at least let Hershel or Dr. S look you over and make sure nothing’s broken,” Bob says sensibly. Tyreese stops and looks Bob in the eye. 

“Not until they in the ground,” he repeats. Bob doesn’t say anything, so Tyreese resumes his work. Then he hears a shovel break into the dirt beside him. Bob has started digging too.

“Oh, good.” Sophie’s voice makes both men stop digging. She stands behind them both, gloved hands on her hips. “I saw Tyreese out here by himself and I figured I’d give him a hand, but Bob’s beaten me to it. That’s probably for the best, I’m terribly slow at digging.”

“Yeah, I’m sure,” Bob says drily. 

“How about I get you boys a wheelbarrow, make things a little easier on you later?” Sophie directs the question at Tyreese. He shrugs. He doesn’t need this to be easier. Sophie and Bob give each other this look and Tyreese’s hackles go up. He chooses to dig some more rather than start another fight. Boots crunch on the dry grass until they’re beside his hole.

“Tyreese,” Sophie says softly, bent beside him to be nearly eye-level- or she would be, if Tyreese would look at her. “I’m very sorry about Karen. She was a good friend. And- and I know what it’s like to lose a partner like that. You’re not alone here. Please remember that.” Tyreese doesn’t say anything. He’s afraid that if he does, the dam will break and he’ll cry all over this damn shovel. Sophie pats his shoulder and walks off, probably to get that wheelbarrow.

*

Glenn follows Alec around the courtyard like a confused puppy. If Alec weren’t so worried, he’d be flattered.

“We’re gonna be fine, right?” Glenn asks. “The people who went to clear the cell block. We’d have gotten sick by now, and Karen and David were already sick.”

“Everyone’s immune system is different,” Alec says. He is channeling his best Picard to keep from freaking out every time someone asks him these questions. “It’ll take time for some people to show symptoms, especially those who were exposed the most recently.”

“But we could be okay,” Glenn says after a moment. Alec looks him in the face to see a familiar desperation. 

“Yeah, we could be,” Alec says. “We gotta get lucky sometimes, right?” Glenn nods.

“I just-” He sighs. “If it’s Walkers, if it’s people, we can do something. We can fight. But with this, we’re just digging graves, man.” Alec doesn’t really know what to say here- this is a moment where he’d turn to someone who’d know the right thing to comfort Glenn, but he’s on his own. 

After a second, it becomes moot. Hard coughing comes from behind Alec, and the men turn to see Sasha stumbling down the stairs. She grips the fence post to stay upright as she coughs, her face covered in sweat. Alec and Glenn move to help her, but she holds up a hand.

“I gotta see Dr. S,” Sasha says. “I’m gonna be okay.” She walks away, slowly but steadily. Glenn turns back to Alec, who still has nothing comforting to say.

*

Block A is like a nightmare, but it’s not Nate’s nightmare, at least. He’s not too reminded of a hospital, so he functions better than he might have feared.

Nate and Lori act as de facto nurses in the block, Lori with a breath mask at Nate’s insistence. They distribute water, wipe away sweat, and do their best to soothe the others. Carl and Sophia are still unconscious; Nate only glances in on them, not daring to expose them to the illness or confront the memories of his son. Lori handles those two kids on her own.

Nate is sitting with Mika when the block door swings open on squealing hinges. Nate excuses himself, promising Mika that he’ll finish the story later, and walks out of her cell. Sasha is trudging into the block, looking like death warmed over.

“Sasha! Hey!” Nate hurries over to the newcomer. He slams the door shut as quickly as he can, the effort sending him into a coughing fit.

“Dr. S…?” Sasha says drowsily.

“I’ll- I’ll get him for you,” Nate says as his coughing fit ends. “Come on, let’s get you a bunk.” He puts a hand on Sasha’s arm and she lets him lead her along the hall, past those in the worse stages of the virus. Nate does his best to shield Sasha from seeing them. Then Molly lunges through the bars of her closed cell, no longer Molly anymore.

“Shit!” Nate exclaims, pulling Sasha away. “Doc, why didn’t you call me?” 

“I was about to.” Caleb appears by the stairs, dragging himself along the railing. “It’s starting.” He’s not looking so good either. Hershel comes down the stairs.

“I’ll take Sasha,” he says, holding out a hand. “Can you handle Molly by yourself?” 

“Yeah, yeah, I, uh, I’ll handle that,” Nate says. Hershel takes Sasha and leads her to an empty bunk beyond the stairs. Nate turns back to Molly, still growling through the cell bars, and sighs. He takes the knife from his belt.

“Sorry, Molly…”

*

Another Council meeting, another round of gloomy faces. Charlie is starting to hate this room.

“It’s spread,” Sophie says, twisting her wedding ring around. She nominated herself as the go-between for the Council and Block A, a job no one fought her for. “Everyone from Block D, Sasha, Caleb, and a few more in the past hour.”

“Jesus,” Daryl mutters.

“Lori seems to be all right at the moment, and there’s been no change with Carl and Sophia,” Sophie adds. “Dr. S is also sick.”

“So what do we do now?” Carol says. Her fists are clenched in her lap, out of sight for everyone but Charlie beside her. 

“We’ll have to continue isolation,” Alec says. “Anyone who shows symptoms has to go to Block A, like Sasha did.”

“We have to do that calmly, so people don’t panic too much,” Parker adds. “That’s the last thing we need.”

“Yeah, but what are we gonna do to stop this?” Clint asks. 

“There is no stopping infection, not really,” Charlie says. “We should consider more effective treatments though. There’s only so much Hershel, Lori, and Nate can do with the resources we have.”

“We need antibiotics. That’s the only option,” Alec says.

“Not necessarily,” Eliot replies. Everyone turns to him in an unspoken question, and he pulls his arms tighter across his chest. “People dealt with sickness before pharmacies. The chemicals in antibiotics come from plants. Penicillin comes from mold. I grew some stuff, but I gave it to Hershel already.”

“Could you find more around here?” Charlie says. Eliot nods. 

“I’ll need some extra hands and a few hours, but I can do it.”

“Great. You can take the twins,” Charlie says. “Daryl, we’ve hit most of the pharmacies around here, right?”

“All of them,” Daryl answers. “And then some.”

“Michonne and I went through most of the ones we’ve seen, there’s nothing left there either,” Natasha says.

“Hershel had a suggestion,” Sophie says. “The veterinary college at West Peachtree Tech- I think that’s what he said- may not have been raided for medicine. He said that the drugs would be almost identical to the ones meant for people.” 

“How far is that?” T-Dog asks.

“50 miles,” Michonne and Natasha say together.

“Woulda said that’s too big a risk before, but it ain’t now,” Daryl says, standing. “I’ll take a group out. You ladies in?” He looks at Michonne and Natasha, who exchange a look before nodding. 

“Michonne, you haven’t been exposed to the virus,” Alec says. “If you get in an enclosed space like a car with Daryl-”

“He’s already given me fleas,” Michonne says with a half-smile. 

“Hey, we can get drugs for that too,” Natasha says.

“Knock it off,” Charlie says, very much not amused. “You three can lead the run. Ask Bob to go with you, he’ll recognize the names of the drugs. You can take maybe two more with you. Pops, make up a list with Hershel for them. T-Dog and Barton will be in charge of security while you guys and Dad are gone. The rest of us will keep an eye on those who aren’t sick.”

“What about whoever killed Karen and David?” Clint says. “I can’t be the only one a little worried about that.”

“That’s part of the keeping an eye on,” Charlie says. “Rick is investigating for us, and he'll let us know when he has a suspect.”

*

Ella and Dex are up in the radio tower, listening to the static and staring at the pages of a book they can’t focus on. Ella occasionally looks up and out over the yard. Tyreese is digging more graves. Walkers bang on the outer fences and the new walls keeping up the weaker sections while a few people pick off the Walkers at the stronger areas.

Dex sits up suddenly, nudging Ella. She stops leaning on the radio table as the door opens. Granddad leads in Jamie, one of the newer radio operators. 

“Jamie’s gonna take over the rest of your shift,” Granddad says. “You two are helping me with something.” Dex slides right out of his chair. Ella waits for Jamie to come over and shows her the log book.

“We got another Frisbee message, this one mentioned a whirl-something,” Ella says. “And there was a garbled transmission that had a few intelligible words in it, we wrote them down. Last shift had a similar one, but we’re not sure it’s the same yet.”

“I’ll keep an ear out,” Jamie says. She takes Dex’s chair. Now Ella leaves hers to go with her brother and Granddad. 

“What are we doing?” Ella asks as they head out the door.

“Gathering herbs. I’ll teach you some old remedies I learned when I was your age,” Granddad says. He leads them down the stairs. Ella and Dex exchange a look.

“Not to be a jerk, but are you sure they work?” Dex says. “That was a really long time ago.” Granddad shoots a glare over his shoulder.

“Of course I’m sure. I’ve been using them for centuries,” he says. “Your mama never complained when I used em on her.”

“Mama heals faster than other people.”

“What I’m hearing, Dex, is that you’d like to stay behind,” Granddad says. Dex shuts up after that and Ella does her best not to laugh at the silent complaints he sends her.

*

The water pump isn't working.

Carol tries two of the spigots to get only a few drops from each. She sighs and picks up the bucket, wondering who she can get to help her fix the pump. Eliot and the twins aren’t back yet, Glenn had to go into quarantine, and they’re already stretched so thin-

Tyreese is right next to Carol, who jumps at the unexpected sight. How he managed to get this close without her noticing is a terrifying little mystery. 

“Oh, God, I didn’t see you there,” she says. Tyreese looks much calmer than the last time they spoke, even with the black eye. 

“Sorry to interrupt,” he says, actually sounding it. 

“It’s okay,” Carol replies. “Are you okay?” Tyreese glances at his feet before speaking.

“I’m going on the run with Daryl,” he says. “But I was wondering…” He trails off and Carol waits for the rest. “I know there’s a lot of people in trouble. Sick. It’s just I know how you are. You care.” Carol’s gut churns a little.

“Thank you,” she says softly.

“I was wondering if you could look in on Sasha for me,” Tyreese says, and Carol’s guilt is almost nauseating. “It would make me feel better knowing you were looking in on her.” Carol can’t look Tyreese in the face, she can’t look at that soft, caring expression. “If you can’t-”

“No.” Carol looks up quickly. “No, I’d be happy to.” She tries to smile at him, be the comforting person he wants to see, but it doesn’t quite work. Tyreese nods.

“Thank you,” he says. He starts to turn away. Carol can’t stand it.

“Oh, what happened to Karen,” she says in a rush. “I’m so sorry.” Tyreese looks at her, and for a moment she thinks he knows, but his face twitches towards grief, not anger. He tries to speak and instead nods before walking away. Carol lets him leave this time. When he’s gone, she throws her bucket in anger sobs forcing their way up her throat.

“Hey.” Parker is in front of Carol without warning, but this is not nearly as surprising. “Are you okay?”

“Okay?” Carol repeats in a stricken voice. “How could I possibly be okay right now? He just- after what I did-”

“After what we did,” Parker interrupts. “I know. We thought it would help and it didn’t.” She reaches out for Carol, who jerks away from her.

“I should put the rings back,” Carol says. “I- I’m not the kind of person who deserves them anymore. I’m not.”

“I don’t know about Daryl, but Charlie’s definitely killed people to protect the group,” Parker says. “You can’t decide what they feel. When this settles down-” And here her own voice is strained, as if she’s trying to convince herself. “-we can tell them what we did and let them decide what they want, okay? Just don’t put the rings back yet.” Carol doesn’t answer; she tries to settle her ragged breathing. Parker goes to pick up the bucket that has rolled off into a corner.

“Parker,” Carol says finally. “Parker, the water pump is clogged up. We should fix it before we run out.” Parker comes back with the bucket.

“Okay, let’s go.”

*

As Daryl and Michonne prep the car to go, Natasha rounds up others to fill out their group. Bob was a given, since he’s one of the few people who would recognize the drugs on the list Hershel and Alec made up, but Daryl’s surprised to see Tyreese as well.

“Hey,” Daryl says, fully aware of the incident between Tyreese and Charlie earlier. “You coming with?”

“Romanoff said I’d be more help with you guys,” Tyreese says stiffly. 

“Probably more help than me,” Bob says. “I’m still not sure what I can do-”

“Charlie picked you,” Natasha says in a stern tone. “I told you why. We have a job to do, so let’s do it.”

“She’s right,” Daryl says. “Come on, we got more to pack.”

*

Alec has too much shit to think about and not enough to do about it. He’s already given Daryl the list of medications to look for, and now he’s helping with the ‘keep an eye on people’ job. That is not a very thought-intensive job, though, so he’s mostly been walking around and worrying about things. There are so many things that worry him.

“Alec.” Rick appears in the hallway in front of Alec, who does an admirable job of not jumping out of his skin.

“Grimes! Hey!” Alec replies, trying not to show his racing pulse. “How you doing? How’s the baby?”

“She’s fine. I left her with Beth for now,” Rick says. “Listen, Charlie put me in charge of the murder investigation. I wanted to talk with you about what I have so far.”

“Sure, sure,” Alec says. “You want me to go get Parker? She’s more familiar with this kind of crime.”

“No, I want to talk to you,” Rick says. “Barnes looked over the scene for me.” That was a risky move. Alec may be a little biased, given how many files he read on the Winter Soldier and the emotional duress of having the Winter Soldier kidnap his daughter that one time, but he had been half-certain the Soldier killed Karen and David as some weird protective maneuver. “He said the killer is probably someone small. A bigger person wouldn’t need to drag Karen or David.”

“That does make sense,” Alec says begrudgingly. So much for his theory. “That rules out a few people.”

“Barnes also pointed out something I thought, that whoever did this wasn’t experienced,” Rick says. “An experienced killer would have put the bodies on something when they were moving them, so not to leave as much of a trail.”

“Okay, but that’s most of the people here,” Alec answers. “The only trained killers here are Barnes, Romanoff, Barton, and Eliot- don’t tell anyone I said that.”

“I think everyone’s pretty aware that Eliot knows how to kill people,” Rick says. “I wanted to ask you about the last Council meeting before the murders. When you said fire was the only way to kill this thing, did you notice anyone react to you? Anyone acting funny?” Alec shrugs. 

“Not really. I mean, Parker had her thinking face on, but she was probably remembering how she scared the living daylights outta me when she killed that mega-flu,” he says. “She also loves fire. I do not understand it, but she does and it’s a little bit scary.”

“She loves fire,” Rick repeats. “And you didn’t think that was relevant to the burnt bodies?”

“Well- hey, I have been doing all the heavy lifting on this flu thing! I can’t be expected to do everything!” Alec protests. “Besides, who immediately suspects their wife of murder? Even if I had, why would I say anything? Would you?” Rick sighs.

“Fair enough,” he says. “Still, we need to figure out if she’s involved. Judging by the blood trails, there were two people at the burn site.”

“Two?” Alec says. “This keeps getting worse.”

*

Eliot and the twins come back with a crate full of plants. He leads them to one of the kitchenettes in the rec areas, where they stew some, boil others, mash a few, and make a whole bunch of jars to bring to Block A. Charlie comes in as they place the jars into the crate.

“Looks like you’ve had a productive trip,” she says. “It’s an…. interesting set of smells in here.”

“Got more to do,” Eliot replies. “Dex, Ella, you wanna bring that stuff over while I keep working in here?”

“You got it,” Dex says, and the two carefully heft the crate up together. Charlie watches them go and Eliot watches her.

“You doing all right?” he asks when the twins are gone. 

“Fine. Why?” Charlie says, still looking in the direction of her kids.

“There’s a lot going on,” Eliot says. “A lotta stress. You’re in charge, it’s gonna hit you hard.”

“Yeah, I guess,” Charlie says. She comes over to his workstation. “It’ll be better when the run comes back. You need a hand with any of this?”

“Sure.” Eliot starts showing Charlie what needs doing, and in the back of his mind he recalls when he would teach her to cook, back when she was Beth’s age and the world was a little less fucked. They’re good memories. He just wishes life could be that secure again.

*

Glenn has taken Nate’s place as a nurse, as Nate is too fatigued to be on his feet that much. Glenn’s not a whole lot better, but he’s better enough to help Lori and Hershel.

“How are Carl and Sophia?” Glenn asks Hershel after watching Lori go up to their cell.

“Very much the same,” Hershel says, squinting at the label on one of Eliot’s jars. “Unconscious. Slight fever. They respond when she gives them water, so that’s good.” He holds the jar out to Glenn. “Does this say chamomile? The handwriting is terrible.” Glenn takes the jar.

“Corn Chamomile Tea,” he reads.

“Ah, perfect.” Hershel accepts the jar back. “Chamomile will reduce the fevers, relax the muscles. Can you see if there’s any dogwood in there? Your eyes are better than mine.” Hershel walks away to distribute the tea and Glenn bends down next to the crate to look through the jars. 

Between the coughing fits and the quiet murmur of people whispering, Glenn swears he can hear a melody. He pauses to listen more carefully. 

“They didn't have you where I come from. Never knew the best was yet to come.” A woman’s voice drifts down from the upper levels. “Life began when I saw your face, and I hear your laugh like a serenade.” After a few moments, Glenn realizes it must be Lori, still up with the kids. He is almost embarrassed to intrude on this by listening, but it has to be the most comforting thing he’s heard all day.

“How long do you wanna be loved?” Lori continues, a little off key from her soft volume. “Is forever enough, is forever enough? How long do you wanna be loved? Is forever enough? 'Cause I'm never, never giving you up.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song used here is Lullaby by the Dixie Chicks.


End file.
